4. PBoC: Stable commodity prices still top priority

Beijing will maintain a stable monetary policy aimed at stabilizing commodity prices and curbing inflation, the central bank said in a quarterly report released Sunday.

Beijing will maintain a stable monetary policy aimed at stabilizing commodity prices and curbing inflation, the central bank said in a quarterly report released Sunday. Stabilizing commodity prices will remain the bank's top priority when formulating economic policy, the bank said. The remarks come amidst widespread market speculation that the People's Bank of China will ease monetary controls to counter potential global economic slowdown. Meanwhile, the bank has continued to allow the yuan to appreciate against the dollar. The yuan-dollar rate dropped below 6.40 yuan per dollar for the first time in 17 years last week as the Federal Reserve committed to record low U.S. interest rates through mid-2013 and China looked keen to use the exchange rate to curb rising import prices.