BEIJING (dpa-AFX) - China's bank lending declined sharply in October but remained above economists' expectations, the People's Bank of China reportedly said Wednesday.
Banks extended CNY 826.2 billion new loans in October. Economists had forecast lending to decline to CNY 800 billion from CNY 1.7 trillion in September.
Further, total social financing decreased to CNY 1.59 trillion from CNY 2.9 trillion a month ago.
Growth in the outstanding total social financing held steady at 10.0 percent in October.
The broad M2 money supply expanded 8.7 percent after rising 8.3 percent in September.
There are some signs that PBoC policy is turning more supportive in response to strains in the property sector, Sheana Yue and Julian Evans-Pritchard, economists at Capital Economics, said.
As such, this might be the trough in the credit cycle. But the usual lags mean that tight credit conditions will remain a headwind to economic activity for a while, the economists noted.
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