More rescue measures to be expected - Wen Jiabao

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China's prime minister Wen Jiabao has announced additional measure to reduce the effects of the economic crisis in his country, Wen said in a rare interview with the Financial Times this morning during his visit to London. He was not very specific:

“We may take further new, timely and decisive measures. All these measures have to be taken pre-emptively before an economic retreat.”

He played down the possibility of a devaluation of the renminbi. He also try to take away the suggestion that China would not longer invest into the US-dollar. The Financial Times:

The Chinese premier took a studiously neutral view on future purchases of US Treasury bills this year. Some economists say China’s financing of US deficits may fail to match last year’s levels, just as Washington’s requirements balloon as a result of successive bail-outs of financial institutions and a near-$1,000bn fiscal stimulus package.
While China needed reserves for domestic purposes, it was also keen to maintain the value of its existing dollar holdings, Mr Wen said. He played down hopes that Beijing would be ready to use its reserves to lend more to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to tackle the crisis.

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