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China’s central bank chief says his job is too difficult for many people to understand

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of People’s Bank of China, says as mainland moves towards market-based economy the central bank has more work to do than its peers in mature markets

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Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China, during his lecture at the International Monetary Fund on Friday. Photo: Kyodo
Zhou Xin

Beijing’s monetary policy must target a slew of different – sometimes conflicting – goals and is decided upon using complicated models that may go beyond the average person’s comprehension, says China’s central bank chief.

In an English-language lecture on Friday at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington, dotted with technical terms such as “Structural Vector Auto Regression models” and “Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium”, Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China, explained “the objectives, roles and practices” of the the PBOC in a broad historical and global context.

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Zhou Xiaochuan (left) governor of the People's Bank of China, and Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director, talk after his lecture on Friday. Photo: EPA
Zhou Xiaochuan (left) governor of the People's Bank of China, and Christine Lagarde, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director, talk after his lecture on Friday. Photo: EPA
China has largely calmed concerns about the yuan in the past few months after a sudden revaluation last August and associated poor communication roiled global markets.
Complicated models pose challenges over communication between the central bank and the public
Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China

Indeed, the yuan’s volatility was the smallest recorded among major currencies following Britain’s vote in favour of leaving the European Union on Friday.

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