China c.bank to use more policy tools in 2013 -adviser

BEIJING, Jan 8 (Reuters) - China will use a wider range of tools, including interest rates and bank reserve ratios, to guide monetary policy in 2013, rather than just relying on open market operations, a central bank adviser was quoted on Tuesday as saying.

"Monetary policy tools in 2013 will be more comprehensive -- not only relying on reverse repos and other open market operations, but also bank reserve ratios and interest rates," Chen Yulu, a member of the central bank's monetary policy committee, was quoted by China's main news portal, www.sina.com, as saying.

But Chen said the central bank should still tread cautiously as consumer inflation may pick up in the second half. The report did not say when and where Chen made the remarks.

The central bank delivered two cuts in benchmark interest rates around mid-2012 and three cuts in banks' reserve requirement ratios (RRR) between late 2011 and May 2012.

But fearful of a flare-up in property prices and consumer inflation, it has since refrained from cutting interest rates or RRR, opting to inject short-term cash into money markets to help ease credit strains.

Chen, who is the head of Renmin University in Beijing, expects the economy to grow around 8 percent this year, in line with the mainstream view among government economists.

The central bank may target a 13 percent annual rise in broad M2 money supply this year, which will be sufficient for supporting economic growth, said Chen, who advises the central bank but does not have real influence on policy-making.

"Inflation may rebound in the second half, we need to have a good grasp of the prudent monetary policy and keep M2 growth below 14 percent," Chen was quoted as saying.

China's central bank has pledged to continue its prudent monetary policy to keep economic growth stable this year.

(Reporting by Kevin Yao; editing by Jonathan Standing)