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Extracted Text (OCR)
Exhibit 45: China Economic Activity Measures
Actual growth is likely lower than official figures.
% YoY, 3-Month Moving Average
34.8
Real GDP Growth ’
| Ss Emerging Advisors Group China Activity Index
Goldman Sachs China Activity Indicator
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016
Data through 03 2016.
Source: Investment Strategy Group, Emerging Advisors Group, Goldman Sachs Global
Investment Research.
both China and the US, such as Korea, Taiwan and
Malaysia, would be particularly vulnerable.
While the net effect of these competing forces
is positive in our base case, the risks are tilted to
the downside.
China
China continues to drive its economy with
one foot on the gas pedal and the other on the
brake. Consider that the government reached its
official GDP growth target of 6.5-7% last year
only by increasing public spending and allowing
rampant credit growth. But these measures also
exacerbated real estate bubble concerns and
hastened capital outflows, forcing the government
to apply the brakes through new restrictions within
the property market and more stringent capital
controls. This focus on dual-footed driving has also
come at the expense of much-needed structural
reforms. As a result, China continues to suffer from
considerable excess capacity in industrial sectors,
such as steel and coal, while its financial sector
risks have increased.
Even so, we expect this approach to continue
in 2017. Structural reforms are likely to stay
on the back burner because China’s leaders
will not risk slower growth ahead of important
leadership changes at the 19th Communist Party
of China National Congress in the fall. In turn,
the government is likely to use further fiscal easing
and rapid credit expansion to target growth of
around 6.5%. As a result, we expect official GDP
to expand by 6.0-6.75% in 2017, although actual
GDP growth will likely be lower (see Exhibit 45}.
The risks to our outlook are skewed to the
downside for two reasons. First, the new direction
of US trade policy remains uncertain and could
have a sizable impact. For instance, a 15% tariff
would mechanically reduce China’s GDP by 0.9%.
China could respond by ramping up leverage,
letting its currency depreciate faster and injecting
more fiscal stimulus, but that could risk further
imbalances in the economy while also disrupting
global financial markets. Second, striking the right
balance between stimulative and contractionary
measures is a hazardous endeavor. On the road,
as in government policy, accelerating and braking
at the same time greatly increases the risk of
an accident.
India
India’s streak of strong growth continues. The
economy expanded by an estimated 6.5% in
2016, making it the fourth consecutive year of
GDP growth in excess of 6.0%, a rare feat that
India’s economy shares only with China’s. Growth
would likely have been even higher, were it not
for the “demonetization” scheme the government
introduced in November 2016. In a surprise
move, the government announced that large-
denomination bank notes, representing 86% of
cash in circulation, would no longer be accepted
as legal tender. The scheme—intended to root out
illegal income stored in cash—had the unfortunate
side effect of starving households of liquidity and
thereby thwarting consumption, the main engine of
growth. Although the severity of the consumption
shock remains uncertain, it should be temporary.
The silver lining for 2017 is that India will
probably benefit from a meaningful recovery in
household spending. Moreover, fiscal policy will
likely be eased ahead of the 15 state elections
occurring in 2017 and 2018, while investment
should receive a modest boost as the Reserve Bank
of India lowers borrowing costs. Accordingly, we
expect GDP growth of 6.5-7.5% in 2017.
46 | Goldman Sachs | JANUARY 2017
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