Daily Management Review

Volume of new bank lending in China declines in February


03/11/2019


In February, Chinese banks issued significantly fewer new loans than a month earlier, while the authorities are still striving to support the economy.



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The volume of new bank lending in China in national currency amounted to 885.8 billion yuan ($ 131.81 billion) in the last month, showed the data of the People’s Bank of China.

In January, banks issued new loans for a record amount of 3.23 trillion yuan.

Analysts polled by Reuters expected that the volume of new bank lending in February would be 975 billion yuan.

The reduction in the volume of new lending in February was expected. As a rule, Chinese banks actively issue loans at the beginning of the year in order to get better customers and gain market share, the agency said.

The aggregate M2 (cash and all deposits) grew by 8% in annual terms. Analysts had expected the figure to increase by 8.4%, as in January.

In general, the volume of outstanding loans in RMB last month increased by 13.4% in annual terms. The result coincided with the January growth rate and analysts' forecast.

The growth of aggregate financing (including bank loans, off-balance loans, placement of shares and bonds) in China slowed down to 10.1% last month from 10.4% in January.

Recall, the Chinese authorities intend to continue to support private and small companies to stimulate economic growth.

PRC State Council Premier Li Keqiang said at the opening session of the All-China People’s Assembly on March 5 that Beijing would take measures to increase bank lending to private and small firms by 30%.

source: reuters.com