China's central bank says it will boost forex market resilience

BEIJING, March 21 (Reuters) - China's central bank will cut banks' reserve requirement ratio and interest rates at the "appropriate time" and strengthen the resilience of its forex market, it said on Friday during a quarterly meeting of its monetary policy committee.

The committee of the People's Bank of China (PBOC) suggested stepping up monetary policy adjustment and control, and improving monetary policy to be more forward-looking, targeted and effective, according to a statement of the bank's quarterly meeting of its monetary policy committee, which was held on Tuesday.

The remarks, similar to PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng's comments earlier this month, came after modest economic growth in the first two months of the year, thanks to government policy support. But U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff hikes may bring more headaches to policymakers in coming months.

"China's economy is generally stable, making progress while maintaining stability... However, it still faces difficulties and challenges including insufficient domestic demand and many hidden risks," said the PBOC statement.

The bank will keep liquidity ample and push forward to lower social financing costs, the statement added.

"Behaviours that disrupt forex market order will be resolutely dealt with, and the bank will prevent currency overshooting risks," the statement said, adding the PBOC will keep yuan reasonably stable.

In addition, the bank will study creating new structural monetary policy tools and support the investment and financing of technology innovation, consumption boosting and foreign trade stabilisation.

China held benchmark lending rates steady for the fifth straight month in March on Thursday, matching market expectations.

Analysts say pressures to stabilise the yuan has eased, while short-term economic stabilisation suggests a loosening monetary policy is not very urgent at present, but expectations for it still remains.