CBIRC woos market support

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has issued a statement urging the sector’s support to combat the Coronavirus outbreak. It has told banks to allow delayed mortgage and credit card repayments for individuals and maintain credit support for businesses that have been impacted by the epidemic. The regulator also told insurers to prioritise claims for related cases.

The outbreak has posed the greatest threat to the tourism, retail, catering and logistics sector in China. Significant risks loom for an economy that is more significantly reliant on services than 17 years ago during the SARS epidemic, not to mention the ongoing external headwinds the country faces.

Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) also issued statements to signal support including plans to inject abundant liquidity through its monetary policy tools when markets reopen due to a large volume of maturing funds. In addition to the Shenzhen and Shanghai exchanges, the PBoC extended closures to the interbank borrowing, bond, foreign exchange and gold markets.