Chart of the day: Little monetary relief in China

The mainland's M2 money supply growth eased to the second-lowest pace in August since the first quarter of 2012, according to Societe Generale, falling to 12.8 per cent year on year from 13.5 per cent in July, while credit growth dropped to its lowest level since mid-2006, mainly dragged down by the deleveraging of the shadow banking system. Societe Generale expects a similar picture for September. While new bank loans are likely to remain sizeable at 740 billion yuan (HK$934 billion), year-on-year growth is seen slowing further to 13.1 per cent from 13.3 per cent in August.