Experts Predict This Year's Economic Growth Rate to Be 7.6%

The National Bureau of Statistics has conducted a survey among one hundred Chinese economists. Most of them think that the economic trends during the first half were favorable, the rate of economic growth is increasing and the economic situation is ideal.

With regards to the macroeconomic trend for the second half, 86.7% of those polled predicted that the second half would be better than the first half.

80% of experts mentioned insufficient demand and 60% cited the severe employment situation as problems for this year's economic development. They also worried about the imbalance of the economic structure, low efficiency of enterprises and insufficient confidence in consumer spending.

With regard to China's economic growth this year, all experts predict a higher figure than last year, with the average forecast being 7.6%. However, at the same time, many experts argue that without a new round of infusion of funds from government bonds, insufficient overall demand and low prices would continue to hinder the progress in investments. Thus, the economic growth rate of the second half could be lower than that of the first half.

As for the monetary policy of the second half, 60% of experts feel that the status quo should be maintained, 40% advocate loosening the monetary policy.

70% of experts predict that the market price in the second half would be higher than the first half and could go from a negative to positive before the end of this year. In addition, 30% of experts predict that the price level would basically remain unchanged in the second half.

People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/