New bank lending in China rebounded in March but fell short of market expectations, as sluggish domestic demand continues to weigh on the credit appetite of the world's second-largest economy.
Chinese banks extended 2.99 trillion yuan, equivalent to $437.6 billion, in new yuan loans in March, a sharp seasonal climb from the 900 billion yuan recorded in February, according to People's Bank of China data released Monday.
Despite the jump, the figure came lower than the 3.4 trillion yuan increase anticipated by economists in a survey by The Wall Street Journal.
Total social financing, a broader measure of credit including bank and non-bank lending, stood at 5.23 trillion yuan in March, up significantly from 2.38 trillion yuan in February.
The broad M2 money supply rose 8.5% from a year earlier, down from 9.0% growth in February and lower than the 8.9% increase tipped by surveyed economists.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-13-26 0545ET
