Bankers, entrepreneurs confidence up in Q4

BEIJING - Bankers and entrepreneurs are more confident of the economic outlook in China, according to the central bank's fourth quarter surveys released Tuesday.

The banker confidence index rose 13.1 percentage points to 55.1 percent in the fourth quarter from the third quarter, according to a survey by the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

In a separate PBOC survey, entrepreneurs confidence index was up 1.2 percentage points to 60.4 percent from the third quarter, according to the bank.

Both indices were still lower than the level a year earlier, the PBOC said.

About 49.4 percent of bankers surveyed believed that the macro-economy is operating at a "normal" level, up 11.8 percentage points from the third quarter, while 47.9 percent of bankers thought the macro-economy was "relatively cool."

The PBOC survey found 39.5 percent of entrepreneurs surveyed thought China's current macro-economy was "relatively cool," down 0.9 percentage points from previous quarter.

About 57.8 percent said the economy was "normal," up 1.4 percentage points from the third quarter.

Up to 19.8 percent of bankers surveyed expect the country's monetary policy will "loosen" in the next quarter, 13.9 percentage points higher than the previous quarter. About 69.9 percent of bankers expect the monetary policy to remain "appropriate."

China will continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy and prudent monetary policy in 2013, according to a statement issued Sunday after the closure of a two-day central economic work conference.

The country's economy grew by 7.4 percent year on year in the third quarter, slowing for the seventh straight quarter.