China's Bankers Are Most Upbeat on the Economy in 12 Years

(Bloomberg) -- China’s bankers are more confident in the economy than any time since 2006, even as more characterize monetary policy conditions as being tight, a central bank survey shows.

A gauge of banker confidence in the economy rose for a ninth-straight quarter to 81.9 percent in January-March, according to survey results from the People’s Bank of China. That’s up from 79.1 percent the prior quarter and near a record high in data since 2004, according to PBOC’s survey of 3,200 bankers across the nation.

That outlook has brightened even as more said they saw monetary policy as being tight. The survey showed 23.7 percent said first quarter policy settings were tight, 4.6 percentage point higher than the previous quarter, while 73.2 percent saw levels as being appropriate.

Meanwhile, a total of 22.9 percent household respondents in a separate survey said they’re considering buying property in the next three months, versus 23.3 percent in the previous quarter, indicating that demand for homes remains resilient despite curbs on purchases.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Yinan Zhao in Beijing at yzhao300@bloomberg.net, Miao Han in Beijing at mhan22@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jeffrey Black at jblack25@bloomberg.net, Jeff Kearns, Karthikeyan Sundaram

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.

With assistance from Yinan Zhao, Miao Han