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There were four big hints in Asia that Evergrande’s restructuring is a done deal

PBOC is talking with other central banks

RBA Debelle
Phones have undoubtedly been ringing at the PBOC with other global central bankers on the line. They all have contacts at the PBOC and all global central banks coordinate and share information.
In a system like China’s where the PBOC isn’t independent, they would be on top of government plans. In a situation like Evergrande, they would be in every briefing and at the heart of the decision-making.
I strongly suspect that decisions have now been made and the need-to-know parts of those decisions have been communicated to other central bankers. Here’s why:
First of all, we saw that Evergrande today made an announcement about making an interest payment on domestic debt after negotiations with bond holders. The company is obviously done but that’s a sign that some kind of plan has been decided on’ and it’s not a disorderly collapse.
The second clue was a net 110 billion yuan in 7/14-day reverse repos. That’s the biggest injection since January and it’s a sign the PBOC is adding liquidity as a buffer because there will be some pain from the restructuring.
The third clue was in comments from the RBA’s Debelle earlier.
Evergrande

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China greasing economy with $55bn in tax breaks

China’s State Council on Wednesday approved 380 billion yuan ($55.1 billion) in tax relief that will mainly favor farmers and small businesses in a move that is seen as both economic and political.

The second large-scale tax cut to follow last year’s comes as China’s economy is forecast to slow down in the latter half of 2017, during which the Communist Party will convene its 19th National Congress and reshuffle top leadership.

China will modify its value-added tax this July by removing the 13% bracket while retaining the 6%, 11% and 17% tiers. The 13% rate currently applies to farm products and natural gas, but they will move to the 11% category. Farmers as well as households that purchase rice and vegetables will likely benefit from this change.

For smaller companies, those that pay 300,000 yuan or less in annual taxable revenue qualify for preferential tax treatment. The ceiling will be lifted to 500,000 yuan. Furthermore, small businesses and startups will be allowed to deduct 75% of research and development costs, up from 50%. These tax breaks will remain in effect until the end of 2019.

The Chinese government enacted about 500 billion yuan worth of corporate tax cuts in 2016. Helped also by a surge in infrastructure spending, the real economy grew 6.9% during the January-March period this year, marking the second quarter of economic acceleration. However, the People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, has been gradually raising market interest rates in order to rein in the real estate bubble. (more…)