Q1 Forex Data Released: China's balance of payments deficit significantly narrowed in Q1
Updated 16:50, 21-Apr-2019
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The Chinese government is releasing an array of economic data for Q1 of this year. This includes the country's latest balance of payments data, released Thursday. SUN TIANYUAN has the details.
The Chinese economy is picking up growth momentum in Q1 of this year. Latest forex data shows the country's financial markets are in a healthy state.
Government data shows that total forex settlements reached 436.2 billion US dollars and sales concluded at 445.4 billion dollars in Q1 resulting in a 9.1 billion dollar deficit. The deficit was narrowed significantly compared to the same period last year.
WANG CHUNYING, DIRECTOR GENERAL BALANCE OF PAYMENTS DEPT. STATE ADMINISTRATION OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE "Forex is basically balanced. Forward settlements and sales in Q1 shows a surplus. This shows the market is confident in the Chinese economy in the long term."
China's current account showed a surplus at the end of last year despite a rather rare deficit for the first three quarters. SAFE expects China's current account will keep showing a surplus for Q1 2019. Wang says China's trade in goods is also competitive in the long term. At the same time, China's capital account is expected to remain balanced.
WANG CHUNYING, DIRECTOR GENERAL BALANCE OF PAYMENTS DEPT. STATE ADMINISTRATION OF FOREIGN EXCHANGE "We expect an inflow of overseas capital to increase. Direct investment from overseas still has plenty of room to grow. While China's overseas investment will grow steadily."
Wang points out that overseas holdings in China's stock market are still low, so China will lower barriers for overseas capital to enter China. SAFE reassures investors that RMB will stay stable in the middle to long term. With better than expected numbers in Q1, economists say concerns for a hard landing of the world's second largest economy are fading. STY, CGTN.