With Washington’s eyes averted as more details about China’s “quite large-scale” fiscal stimulus measures are likely to be revealed on Friday, economists say Beijing is in no position to surprise the market with astronomical numbers or a new policy bazooka.
China’s top legislative body, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), will conclude its week-long session just days after Donald Trump was confirmed as the next president of the United States.
Other policy measures that have “entered the decision-making phase,” according to Lan, include special government bonds to replenish capital at major banks and special local government bonds to buy unsold homes or vacant land.
Late last month, Vice Finance Minister Liao Min had said that “the scale of this policy round will be quite large,” echoing a sentiment previously expressed by Lan.
Market estimates of the eventual size of the existing stimulus package range from 6 trillion yuan ($838 billion) to more than 10 trillion yuan.