LONDON: Morgan Stanley revised down its China 2023 economic growth forecast by 0.7 percentage points to 5% on Monday after the country reported a “weak” second quarter GDP reading.

Adding that government was also being slow to provide stimulus, Morgan Stanley’s analysts said: “Market scepticism on China’s growth outlook is on the rise”.

China’s economy grew 6.3% on-year in second quarter

The bank also trimmed its 2024 GDP forecast by 40 basis point, to 4.5%, which it said implied “a return to China’s post-Covid potential growth trend”.