Assessing Effectiveness of Structural Monetary Policy in China

Structural monetary policy (SMP)—differentiated policy action targeting specific economic activity— has become more frequently applied by major central banks lately, although the practice of developmental central banking has been in existence for quite some time. The effectiveness of such structural monetary policy, however, has not been adequately evaluated. In this paper, we attempt to provide a comprehensive analysis of SMP introduced by the People's Bank of China and also to offer a broad framework for thinking about SMP. We first document the brief history and main components of China's SMP and estimate the narrow- and broad-measures of SMP accounting for 17.9 percent and 27.9 percent of base money, respectively, at the end of 2022. We then discuss two key factors determining success of SMP: bank credit flows to the targeted area and risk implications for banks. By applying the difference-in-difference and panel data analysis approaches using a monthly data set of city commercial bank loans, we evaluate the impacts of targeted required reserve ratio (RRR) cuts in 2019 and 2020 on small- and medium-sized enterprise lending. No statistically significant impact is found, whether in the short run or in the long run, and whether for medium-sized enterprises or for micro and small businesses). We conclude that, as no statistically significant impact of targeted RRRs are found, SMP's effectiveness, if exists at all, might be temporary; when facing impaired monetary policy transmission, it is important to conduct careful analysis of its effectiveness and sustainability.