JPMorgan cuts China growth forecast for fifth time since August

FILE PHOTO: The JP Morgan sign is pictured at its Beijing office, in this picture taken December 13, 2010. REUTERS/Jason Lee
LONDON : JPMorgan cuts its fourth quarter growth forecast for China to 4.0per cent quarter-on-quarter from 5.0per cent on Friday, citing the impact of power shortages and the recurrence of COVID-19 clusters hitting consumer spending and services.
"Looking back, we have downgraded China's growth forecasts five times since August," JPMorgan's Haibin Zhu said in a note, adding the bank now expected full-year growth of 7.8per cent and 4.7per cent in 2022.
"In particular, to smooth out COVID-related volatility, we note that the pace of average annual GDP growth (compared to two years ago) has decelerated notably."
(Reporting by Karin Strohecker; editing by Marc Jones)