Reuters Poll: China’s GDP Growth Lagging by 5.0%

A poll conducted by Reuters has found China’s gross domestic product (GDP) progress to potentially decelerate by 5.0% in 2022 due to COVID-19 lockdowns and a declining global revival.

According to Reuters, a poll conducted among analysts projected a decrease in the economic growth for China in 2022 which would increase pressure on its central bank to relax monetary policy. However, economic development is likely to resume in 2023 with a projected growth of 5.2%.

Experts are of the opinion that China’s commercial activity reports for the month of March would be affected by its current COVID-19 curbs and lockdowns as the country battles its worst outbreak since March, 2020.

Societe Generale’s analysts contended, "March activity data is likely to have seen a notable deterioration, but that would just be the tip of the iceberg as the economically damaging lockdowns only started in mid-March." They added, "However, real GDP growth might avoid falling below 4%, thanks to the infrastructure push, the reporting methods and the surprisingly strong data seen in January and February."

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