Banking News
- BOC confident of double-digit growth
Date: 25-May-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
BANK of China Ltd. (BOC) said Wednesday it is confident of maintaining double-digit growth this year, despite macroeconomic measures in China that may hamper lending growth and hurt revenue.
The statement from the Shanghai and Hong Kong-listed bank follows the central bank's announcement last Friday of an aggressive three-pronged policy to hike interest rates, banks' reserve requirement ratio and widen the yuan's trading band, the country's latest bid to trim faster-than-expected economic growth and a booming equities market.
But Bank of China chairman Xiao Gang said at a media briefing in Hong Kong the lender's diversified operations will shield it from the effects of the policy moves.
'We do not rely only on loan growth to spur our profit increase...macroeconomic measures will affect every commercial bank in China. But as we have a diversified business mix, the impact on us will likely be limited, if not the least among our peers,'he said, without giving a forecast for the profit increase.
Bank of China was the first of the mainland's big four State lenders to list shares in both Hong Kong and the mainland. While interest income remains its main source of revenue, it also has asset management and investment banking businesses.
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