According to the monthly report released by China's central bank, new bank loans in the country in April registered a year-on-year rise but were down strongly on the average level for the first three months of the year.
By the end of April, broad money M2 reached RMB 54.05 trillion ($7.93 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 25.95 percent. The growth rate was up 8.13 percentage points compared with the end of 2008, and was 0.47 of a percentage point higher than at the end of March.
By the end of April, total outstanding bank loans of financial institutions in China stood at RMB 35.55 trillion ($5.21 trillion), up 29.72 percent year on year. This growth rate was up 10.99 percentage points compared with the end of 2008, and was 0.06 of a percentage point lower than at the end of March. China's new loans in April reached RMB 591.8 billion ($86.77 billion), up RMB 122.9 billion ($18.02 billion) year on year. However, new loans in April were down dramatically when compared to the approximate average monthly level of RMB 1.5 trillion for the first three months of 2009. Meanwhile, total bank loans issued in the first four months of 2009 reached RMB 5.17 trillion ($760 billion), up RMB 3.37 trillion ($490 billion) year on year.
From January to April, new deposits held in Chinese currency at Chinese financial institutions amounted to RMB 6.65 trillion ($980 billion), up RMB 3.35 trillion ($490 billion) year on year. By the end of April, total deposits in foreign currencies reached $204.2 billion, up 24.27 percent year on year.
In April, the weighted-average interest rate for inter-bank lending was 0.86 percent, up 0.02 percentage points month on month. This growth rate was 1.73 percentage points lower compared with the same period last year.
Financial experts have commented that the decrease in new loans in April is with reasonable limits, and so will not affect the ample liquidity observed in the financial system this year.
Moreover, despite the reduced figure for new loans in April, total bank loans issued in the first four months of 2009 have already reached RMB 5.17 trillion ($760 billion), exceeding the target of RMB 5 trillion for the whole year.