Conspicuous by its absence: China drops its GDP growth target – By Al Jazeera and news agencies (Al Jazeera) / May 22 2020
The government is planning to stimulate its coronavirus-ravaged economy with a big boost in spending.
After a historic contraction in its economy due to the coronavirus, China’s government has made the equally momentous move to ditch its target for economic growth this year and instead has promised to boost spending on job creation.
Premier Li Keqiang’s speech at the annual National People’s Congress (NPC) on Friday launched the annual session of China’s parliament.
“I would like to point out that we have not set a specific target for economic growth this year,” the report said. “This is because our country will face some factors that are difficult to predict in its development due to the great uncertainty regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and the world economic and trade environment.”
It is the first time that China has not set a target for gross domestic product (GDP) since the government began publishing such goals in 1990.
“Despite embracing relatively forceful stimulus, the leadership appear to be under no illusions that getting the economy back on track will be a challenging and drawn out process,” Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at research firm Capital Economics said in a note sent to Al Jazeera.
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