Thread for China fintwit on PBOC. Latest I'm hearing is that Liu He will not be the next central bank governor. Formal requirements of the role, especially protocol of regular international meetings, would be too much for his very crowded agenda as vice premier for economy.
Who might succeed Zhou? Most talk still focuses on Guo Shuqing or Jiang Chaoliang as frontrunners. But Yi Gang is, I'm told, now in frame. He was previously a dark-horse: not full member of CCP central committee and, many assumed, limited by extensive international experience.
But Zhou has apparently been lobbying to have Yi replace him. If Liu were the successor, the idea was that Yi would be "executive governor", managing day-to-day operations. But talk now is that with Liu heading the Financial Stability and Development Committee (金稳委), it...
... will be clear that he oversees the PBOC, without needing the burden of governorship. Anyhow, all the usual caveats apply: only Xi himself truly knows and any decisions are liable to be changed.
