A better structured financial system is sure to emerge in China three years later. A strong commitment to an open policy We shall not abandon the open policy simply because of the financial crisis in South-East Asia. By the end of 1997, 173 foreign financial institutions were licensed to operate in China with total assets amounting to $ billion.
That is a good sign, and we think they are right! It is not a bad thing in itself to anticipate a recovery! We at the ECB believe that the recovery is already underway, albeit a gradual and fragile one, and so we want to accompany it with low, or even lower, interest rates for a prolonged period.