PBOC survey shows more want to save, than spend or invest
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China was hit by its most severe Covid-19 outbreak since before the shock caused by the pandemic. A survey done central bank revealed that the majority of Chinese want to invest or save their money.
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BEIJING — Chinese consumers are becoming more cautiousThey were closer to the pandemic’s onset, according to a study by the People’s Bank of ChinaReleased Wednesday
The quarterly survey revealed that more Chinese want to save their money instead of investing it.
Survey respondents who said they were more inclined to save in the first quarter rose to 54.7% — the most on record since the third quarter of 2002, according to data accessed through Wind Information.
The spread of highly transmissible Omicron variants has been a major event in the past few weeks major economic areas like ShenzhenWith lockdowns, quarantines and other restrictions in place, Shanghai and Beijing have disrupted daily business operations and affected everyday life.
As Covid-19 enters its third year,There are indications that Chinese authorities may be shifting from a strict zero-Covid policy, according to Carlos Casanova (a senior Asia economist at UBP), Thursday, on CNBC. “Capital Connection.”
Casanova indicated that these changes won’t be made until the second-half of this year. Casanova said his company is reducing its China GDP forecast for the second quarter, but he didn’t specify a figure.
The survey by the central bank found that only 23.7% wanted to spend in the first quarter, which was lower than the previous year. Data accessed via Wind revealed that this figure is not the lowest. A further 22% expressed an interest in spending money during the worst pandemic of the first quarter 2020.
Chinese consumers plan to boost their spending in the coming three months, with education being the most popular category. The PBOC survey found that 28.9% expressed such an intent — up from 27.2% in the fourth quarter last year.
It is despite this that struggles of China’s real estate industry,The survey found that 17.9% of respondents planned to purchase a home in both quarters.
Stocks are less popular with fewer people interested
Chinese consumers stated that while they are trying to trim down their spending, they don’t want to invest any of the money.
According to Wind, 21.6% of respondents wanted to invest, which is the lowest recorded since the first quarter 2009.
Appetite for stock investing was the lowest among the three investment categories listed, and the share of respondents wanting to buy stocks falling to 16.2% in the first quarter — down from 17.3% in the previous quarter, survey data showed.
According to the PBOC, its quarterly survey was conducted in 1999 and covered 20,000 bank depositors from 50 cities of different sizes.
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