Policymakers expected to prioritize stabilizing growth, boosting buying appetites as key tasks

　　MA XUEJING/CHINA DAILY

　　China's policymakers will enhance countercyclical adjustments and take more steps to boost consumption, as the broader economy still faces pressing challenges from lackluster domestic demand and uncertainties from the external environment, economists said.

　　Their comments have come at a time when the market is eagerly awaiting proactive moves to revive the economy at the annual meetings of China's top legislative and political advisory bodies, or two sessions.

　　Wang Tao, chief China economist at UBS Investment Bank, said her team expects the two sessions to follow the policy stances of the Central Economic Work Conference held in December and again set a GDP growth target of “around 5 percent“ to anchor expectations.

　　Wang said policymakers are likely to prioritize “stabilizing growth “as the central task and emphasize boosting domestic demand through more supportive macro policies, with “reviving household consumption“ being listed as a top task.

　　Wang said her team expects the government to announce a higher headline budget deficit of around 4 percent of GDP and larger ultra-long-term special central government bond issuance of 2 trillion yuan ($275.3 billion) to support the trade-in program of consumer goods, corporate equipment upgrades and long-term projects.

　　The team also expects another 500 billion yuan to 1 trillion yuan of special central government bond issuance for capital injections to banks, and more special local government bond issuance of 4.5 trillion yuan or more to support local government financing vehicles' debt swap and for home inventory destocking.