Some Chinese bankers expect policy loosening: PBOC survey

Nearly 25 percent of bankers surveyed by the People's Bank of China, the central bank, said they anticipated loosening monetary policies in the first quarter of 2015, new survey showed on Monday.

Given the economic slowdown, 24.7 percent of Chinese bankers believed the country would issue loosening monetary policy measures and 66.8 percent expected "moderate" policies, according to results of the quarterly questionnaire.

Altogether 91.5 percent chose "loosening" or "moderate", 4.9 percentage points more than in the previous quarter.

The survey marked increasing expectation of easing measures from the central government to weather economic hardships.

The PBOC announced an interest rate cut on Nov. 21, which was widely interpreted as a prelude to further policy easing. Research centers, including Morgan Stanley, forecast more measures in the next year.

A report from China International Capital Corporation (CICC) forecast two rate cuts and four instances of lowering the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) in 2015.

The authorities have yet to show any signs of policy fine-tuning against the backdrop of market appeal. Policy makers reiterated coherence to "prudent monetary policy" during a top-level economic policy meeting held at the beginning of December.

The survey also showed entrepreneurs had lost confidence in their current business prospects as the Entrepreneur Confidence Index decreased to 61 percent, down from the last quarter and the same period last year.