China’s credit growth was slower than expected in October, with the weaker results coming after a few strong of months supported by government and central bank action to stimulate the economy.
Aggregate financing, a broad measure of credit, was 1.85 trillion yuan ($254 billion), the People’s Bank of China said Monday. That was more than the 913 billion yuan in credit extended in October last year but below the median estimate of 1.95 trillion yuan in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
Financial institutions offered 738 billion yuan worth of new loans in the month, higher than economists’ forecasts of 655 billion yuan, and compared with 615 billion yuan a year ago.
October is historically a weak month for lending and credit, and the increase comes after relatively strong credit growth in September. Credit in September was boosted by government bond sales and came after the PBOC acted to release long-term liquidity into the financial system by cutting the reserve requirement ratio. – Bloomberg
