China to restrict credit growth
China has said it will control credit growth and take active measures to promote healthy development of housing market as real estate prices rose in 100 cities sparking concerns over property bubble. Real estate prices in 100 major Chinese cities rose 14.9 per cent in the first nine months of 2016, with August and September seeing record month-on-month growth of more than 2 per cent, according to the China Index Academy (CIA), a private property research institute. A total of 19 Chinese cities had rolled out policies in the past week ranging from higher down payments and home purchase restrictions to curb speculative housing purchases. Chang Yong Rhee, Director of IMF's Asia and Pacific Department, advised China to advance structural reform as China's credit grows at twice the speed of the economy, mainly driven by demand from the property market rather than enterprises. The Asian Development Bank has upgraded its forecast for China's 2016 growth from 6.5 per cent to 6.6 per cent, and to 6.4 per cent growth from 6.3 per cent for 2017.
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