China will continue its relatively loose monetary policy during the latter half of the year to maintain the consistency and stability of macro economic policies, the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, said Thursday.

We will apply multiple monetary tools to maintain an appropriate growth in money supply, and adjust the credit structure to reduce risks, the PBOC said in an online statement, which disclosed the consensus reached by its monetary policy committee during the second-quarter meeting.

The PBOC reiterated it would improve the yuan' s exchange rate mechanism and adjust its value regarding a basket of foreign currencies.

It also vowed to ramp up risk-prevention efforts, to prompt the stable and healthy development of the nation' s financial system.

The PBOC said China' s economy was heading in an expected direction as a coordinated growth in domestic spending, investment and exports has propped up the economic upturn, but China also needs to grapple with tough challenges, including managing inflation expectations, maintaining a steady and fast economic growth, adjusting economic structures and transforming the growth mode.

(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2010)