Li: Brexit adds new uncertainties
TIANJIN (China): Britain’s vote to leave the European Union (EU) has added new uncertainties to the global economy at a time when downward pressures on China are mounting, said Premier Li Keqiang yesterday at a World Economic Forum meeting.
Excess capacity, sluggish investment and waning demand is weighing on the world’s number two economy, Li said at the annual “New Champions” meeting, here, a port city in northern China.
Last week’s Britain’s vote had already had an impact on international financial markets, Li said, “adding new uncertainties to the world”.
“Due to the severe and complicated international environment and long-accumulated, deep-rooted domestic problems, the foundation of a stable Chinese economy is not solid,” said Li.
“There remain rather enormous downward pressures on the economy and the difficulties cannot be underestimated.”
But he also sought to reassure the audience, saying that China’s recognition of the difficulties showed it had the “resolution” and “capabilities” to overcome them.
China’s economy, a pillar of global trade, will not have a hard landing, he predicted.
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The meeting, a Davos-like gathering of 2,000 elite business and political leaders from over 80 countries, was ostensibly focused on topics related to science and technology but the surprise Brexit vote overshadowed other topics. AFP WASHINGTON: Financial markets “vastly underestimated” the outcome of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union but did not panic on Friday, International Monetary Fund managing director Christine Lagarde said. Lagarde told a forum at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado on Sunday that central bankers “did their job” by ensuring that ample liquidity was available, and policymakers worked to reassure market participants that the “situation was under control. And it was under control”. “There were no market liquidity problems like those experienced in 2008.” LONDON: Some British companies are planning to freeze recruitment and are considering moving operations outside the UK following Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, according to a survey by a business group. An Institute of Directors poll of 1,092 UK business leaders found 24 per cent of respondents plan to pause hiring plans, while 5 per cent of companies surveyed said they will cut jobs. Sixty-four per cent of respondents said the result is negative for business, compared with 23 per cent who said it is positive.