China new bank loans jump, first quarter lending hits record US$1.3 trillion, ‘further acceleration’ expected
- Chinese banks extended 3.13 trillion yuan (US$492 billion) in new yuan loans in March
- New bank lending in the first quarter rose to a record of 8.34 trillion yuan, up 8.7 per cent from 7.67 trillion yuan (US$1.3 trillion) in the first quarter of 2021 – the previous record
New bank lending in China rose more than expected in March, while broad credit growth accelerated, from the previous month as the central bank kept policy accommodative to support the slowing economy.
Chinese banks extended 3.13 trillion yuan (US$492 billion) in new yuan loans in March, up sharply from February and exceeding analyst expectations, data released by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on Monday showed.
Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted new yuan loans would rise to 2.68 trillion yuan in March. The new loans were higher than 2.73 trillion yuan a year earlier.
That pushed bank lending in the first quarter to a record of 8.34 trillion yuan (US$1.3 trillion), up 8.7 per cent from 7.67 trillion yuan in the first quarter of 2021 – the previous record.
Bank loans and total social financing rose more than expected in March. This confirms that the government did loosen monetary policy
“Bank loans and total social financing rose more than expected in March. This confirms that the government did loosen monetary policy,” said Zhang Zhiwei, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management.
“Strong credit supply is helpful, but the economy will likely stay weak with many cities under lockdown. The outlook of the Covid outbreaks and the zero [Covid] tolerance policy are the most important uncertainty the economy faces.”
Household loans, mostly mortgages, rose to 753.9 billion yuan in March, after contracting by 336.9 billion yuan in February, while corporate loans jumped to 2.48 trillion yuan last month from 1.24 trillion yuan in February.