China to create appropriate monetary environment to keep supply chain stable - PBOC vice governor

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will create an appropriate monetary environment to keep supply chain stable while keeping its prudent monetary policy flexible, a senior central bank official told a forum in Shanghai on Saturday.

The remarks by Xuan Changneng, deputy governor of the People's Bank of China (PBOC), come as COVID-19 disruptions have snarled global logistics chains and pressured the world's second-largest economy.

"In recent years, protectionism, geopolitical tensions and COVID have continued to affect the stability of the global industrial supply chain, disrupting the global economic order, dragging down economic growth and exacerbating inflationary pressure," Xuan was quoted by state-owned Shanghai Securities News as saying.

He added that China's central bank would continue to push forward the development of supply chain financing, support key areas and COVID-hit industries through structural monetary policy tools, and improve financing efficiency.

The deputy PBOC governor also reiterated that the yuan exchange rate expectations have been generally stable so far this year and played a role of macroeconomic stabiliser.

(Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by William Mallard)