Pan Gongsheng, the new head of the People’s Bank of China, is set to take the helm at an uncertain moment for the world’s second-largest economy — and for the central bank itself.
The bank will be fighting to reset China’s post-Covid recovery, which is suffering from weak investor confidence that many experts believe cannot easily be remedied by monetary policy. It will also be doing so with its own authority weakened after a regulatory shake-up, with some supervisory functions hived off to another regulator.
Analysts said the technocrat’s appointment this weekend as the PBoC’s powerful Communist party chief — he is expected to soon also be given the more public additional role of governor — was nevertheless welcomed by market participants because of his extensive experience in the sector and western contacts and training.