SteelOrbis Shanghai
In line with China's loosened monetary policy, the country's M2 money supply and credit loans both registered considerable uptrends in December 2008, indicating positive momentum for the stimulation of economic growth.
1. By the end of December 2008, broad money M2 reached RMB 47.52 trillion ($7 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 17.82 percent. The growth rate was up 1.08 percentage points compared with the end of 2007, and was 3.02 percentage point higher than the previous month.
2. By the end of December, total outstanding bank loans of financial institutions in China stood at RMB 32.01 trillion ($4.7 trillion), up 17.95 percent year on year. Meanwhile, total bank loans issued reached RMB 30.35 trillion ($4.5 trillion), up 18.76 percent. The growth rate was up 2.66 percentage points compared with the end of the previous year.
3. By the end of December, total deposits at Chinese financial institutions amounted to RMB 47.84 trillion ($7 trillion), up 19.30 percent year on year.
4. In December, the weighted average interest rate for inter-bank lending was 1.24 percent, down 1.06 percentage points month on month. This growth rate was 0.85 of a percentage point higher compared with the same period last year.
5. At the end of December, the national foreign exchange reserve came to $1.95 trillion, up 27.34 percent year on year, with the December reserve increase amounting to $61.3 billion.