International macro news
London spot gold opened at US $198459/oz, the highest was US $199031/oz, the lowest was US $189470/oz, and closed at US $192120/oz, with a weekly decline of 3.37%;
The US dollar index opened at 991263, with a maximum of 992891 and a minimum of 977232, closing at 982345, with a weekly decline of 0.90%;
There were more than 458.32 million confirmed cases of covid-19 pneumonia worldwide, with a cumulative death of more than 6.08 million, and the variant of Omicron virus was rampant;
The Federal Reserve announced a 25 basis point increase in interest rates as scheduled;
The Bank of England raised interest rates by 25 basis points to 0.75%, in line with expectations;
The Bank of Japan announced to maintain the current loose monetary policy;
The EU announced the cancellation of the most favoured nation treatment for Russian trade;
The US House of Representatives passed a bill to terminate normal trade relations with Russia and Belarus;
Xi Jinping video call with Biden to make respective efforts to properly solve the crisis in Ukraine;
China's economic policy trends
This week, the central bank conducted a total of 140 billion yuan of reverse repurchase and 200 billion yuan of MLF in the open market. This week, 50 billion yuan of reverse repurchase and 100 billion yuan of MLF expired, realizing a net investment of 190 billion yuan.
On March 14, Premier Li Keqiang presided over the executive meeting of the State Council to determine the division of key tasks in the government work report, which requires solid and strong implementation and promote the steady operation of the economy in climbing over obstacles.
On March 15, the Bureau of Statistics: from January to February, the added value of industries above designated size increased by 7.5% year-on-year. On a month on month basis, in February, the added value of industries above designated size increased by 0.34% over the previous month. From January to February, China's fixed asset investment increased by 12.2% year-on-year; On a month on month basis, fixed asset investment (excluding farmers) increased by 0.66% in February.
On March 16, the financial stability and Development Commission of the State Council held a special meeting to study the current economic situation and capital market problems.
On March 17, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held a meeting to analyze the epidemic situation of covid-19 pneumonia and deploy strict epidemic prevention and control. The general secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping presided over the meeting.
On March 18, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation issued an announcement to further implement the preferential income tax policies for small and micro enterprises. The part of the annual taxable income of small and micro profit enterprises that exceeds 1 million yuan but does not exceed 3 million yuan will be included in the taxable income at a reduced rate of 25%, and the enterprise income tax will be paid at a tax rate of 20%. The implementation period of the announcement is from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024.
It is expected that there is no need to worry too much about liquidity at the end of the month. After the statement of the financial committee, it is estimated that the follow-up central bank reverse repurchase will be launched at any time. LPR is also expected to be reduced in March. The latest LPR quotation day will be ushered in next Monday, which needs to be paid special attention.
