Chinas Growth Prospects Weaken as Economists Cut 2023 Forecasts
(Bloomberg) -- Economists are turning more bearish about Chinas economy, downgrading their growth forecasts further for 2022 and seeing lingering risks into next year as turmoil in the property market and Covid outbreaks persist.
The economy is now projected to grow just 3.5% this year, down from a previous forecast of 3.9%, according to Bloombergs latest quarterly survey of economists. Growth projections for the first three quarters of next year were also lowered -- by 0.1-0.4 percentage points -- although the median for the whole of 2023 remained unchanged at 5.2%.
The downgrades suggest economists arent convinced Beijings recent stimulus measures -- which more recently include 1 trillion yuan in funds largely for infrastructure projects, and central bank rate cuts -- can help counter the slowdown.
Brendan McKenna, an international economist at Wells Fargo, said theres downside risks to growth forecasts amid a still struggling property sector and renewed Covid-related restrictions. His base case is that the economy will grow a little over 3% this year, but sees a risk of growth weakening to below that if economic activity continues to slow.
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