Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday the country would step up efforts to maintain stable economic growth, in a statement that many read as a signal for imminent monetary easing.
During a fact-finding trip to Wuhan, in Hubei province, over the weekend, Wen said macroeconomic controls should be 'improved and fine-tuned' in line with the latest economic situation and problems, if any, Xinhua reported.
The central government should 'properly handle' the relationship between maintaining growth, reforming economic structures and managing consumer price inflation, he said.
'We should continue to implement a proactive fiscal policy and a prudent monetary policy,' Wen said. 'More priority should be given to maintaining stable economic growth.'
Many economists said Wen's remarks showed policymakers were worried about the economic slowdown, which has already spilled into the second quarter from the first.
They pointed out that the recent escalation in the euro-zone debt crisis had added to the woes already caused by export declines and a softening of domestic consumption.
They said last month's weaker-than-expected data across the board, including in trade, industrial production and new lending, triggered fears of a further slowdown between April and June, and prompted some to downgrade their full-year economic growth forecast.