Central Bank No. 2 Defends Money Supply Target

(Beijing) – Central bank second-in-command Yi Gang said on March 6 that the government's goal of a 13 percent increase in money supply this year suited economic conditions.

The target growth rate of M2, a broad measure of money supply, was announced one day earlier by the outgoing premier, Wen Jiabao. Earlier estimates by some economists had put the policy figure higher. Last year the target was 14 percent and the previous year it was 16 percent.