BEIJING--Chinese banks issued 1.36 trillion yuan ($209.02 billion) of new loans in February, slower than January's significantly high loan issuance, signaling that Beijing may look for a gradual exit from policy easing.
The result was higher than the CNY950 billion expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. In January, new yuan loans stood at CNY3.58 trillion.
Analysts expect Beijing to normalize its monetary stance this year after the Chinese economy rebounded to near pre-Covid-19 levels at the end of 2020, while the overall leverage ratio rose sharply, as the government moved to support pandemic-hit businesses.
Total social financing, a broader measurement of credit in the economy, which includes both bank loans and non-bank financing, was at CNY1.71 trillion in February, down sharply from CNY5.17 trillion in January. Still, it is CNY839.2 billion higher from a year earlier.
China's broadest measure of money supply, M2, rose 10.1% from a year earlier at the end of February, higher than 9.4% in January and the 9.4% increase expected by surveyed economists.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
03-10-21 0459ET
