BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese banks extended 1.81 trillion yuan ($260 billion) in new yuan loans in February, down from January’s record but exceeding analysts’ expectations.
Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted new yuan loans would fall to 1.50 trillion yuan in February from 4.9 trillion yuan the previous month, and against 1.23 trillion yuan a year earlier.
A pull-back in February from January had been widely expected, because Chinese banks tend to front-load loans at the beginning of the year to get higher-quality customers and win market share.
Other credit gauges showed solid improvement.
Broad M2 money supply grew 12.9% from a year earlier, central bank data showed on Friday, above estimates of 12.5% forecast in the Reuters poll.
M2 grew 12.6% in January from a year ago.
Outstanding yuan loans grew 11.6% in February from a year earlier compared with 11.3% growth in January. Analysts had expected 11.4% growth.
($1 = 6.9616 Chinese yuan renminbi)
(Reporting by Judy Hua and Kevin Yao; Editing by Kim Coghill)
