China cbank adviser suggests China not set GDP growth target this year

BEIJING, March 31 (Reuters) - China should not set an economic growth target this year given the high level of uncertainty from the coronavirus pandemic and avoid having to resort to "flood-like stimulus" to meet the goal, a central bank adviser said.

The state-run Economic Daily on Tuesday reported the comments from Ma, who said even growth of between 4% and 5% will be difficult to achieve for China. Setting a growth target for the year that turns out to be unrealistic may effectively hold the country's macroeconomic policy hostage, he said.

(Reporting by Lusha Zhang and Se Young Lee; Editing by Kim Coghill)