ASIA BUSINESS OUTLOOK9AUGUSTPan Gongsheng, known as a firefighting technocrat, has been appointed as the People's Bank of China's (PBOC) new governor, following his elevation to the central bank's top political post earlier this month.Sources confirmed Pan, who led China's top foreign exchange regulator from 2016 to this week, as the replacement for respected governor Yi Gang, making him the first person to hold both positions since Yi's predecessor Zhou Xiaochun.Pan is well-known for his tough stance against currency speculators, as well as his involvement in state banking reforms, tightening property market and fintech regulations, and the prohibition of cryptocurrencies.He takes on the task of dealing with a downturn in the property sector, which accounts for roughly a quarter of China's economic activity, as well as a mountain of local government debt, both of which pose significant challenges to the banking sector and the broader economy.During her visit to Beijing this month, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen met Pan, referring to him as the head of the PBOC.While Pan will serve as both the Communist Party's head at the PBOC and the central bank's governor, the central bank now reports to new regulators as China tightens party control over the financial system this year, including plans for a Central Financial Commission to oversee the PBOC and other institutions. NEWSROOMCHINA ROPES-IN PAN GONGSHENG AS NEW CENTRAL BANK GOVERNORSingapore sovereign wealth fund GIC reported its highest returns since 2015 for the most recent fiscal year, but warned of "challenging" prospects ahead due to sticky inflation and other economic headwinds.To manage these risks, it stated that it would continue to prioritise investments with "stable long-term returns," such as infrastructure.GIC stated in its 2022/23 annual report released on Wednesday (Jul 26) that its 20-year annualised real rate of return was 4.6 percent for the fiscal year ended March 31. This was an increase from the previous fiscal year's 4.2 percent, and it was the highest since 2015, when real returns reached 4.9 percent.The 20-year metric, which is a primary indicator of GIC performance, is a "rolling" return in which years are dropped and added as the computation window moves.For example, the figure for FY2022/23 represented the average annual return of GIC's portfolio between April 2003 and March 2023, adjusted for global inflation.According to GIC, 2022 will be a difficult year, with soaring inflation and aggressive monetary policy tightening, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and a deterioration in US-China relations. In the midst of a difficult market environment, both the equity and bond markets corrected. SINGAPORE SWF GIC TO BOOST INFRASTRUCTURAL INVESTMENT AMID RECORD RETURNS
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