By Xinhua
Beijing : China’s economic growth is estimated to be 10.5 percent in the current year, slightly lower than in 2007, a report released by the Bank of China said Thursday.
Inflation pressures would still exist in 2008, but would gradually flatten over the year, said the report.
The annual consumer price index would stay around 4.5 percent, down from 4.7 percent in 2007.
Imports and exports would continue to grow rapidly, but the fast pace of exports would slow. With a stable rise in imports, the growth in trade surplus would gradually narrow.
The Chinese yuan is expected to appreciate faster as against the US dollar in the first half of the year compared with the latter half, the report said.
It warned the appreciation would have negative impact on the profits of export-oriented companies and suggested the government should be careful with exchange rate policies to avoid a cooling effect on the domestic economy by a possible decline in exports.
The growth of bank loans would be controlled by the newly adopted tight monetary policy and absorbing excess liquidity would be government’s priority.