On February 12, the People's Bank of China announced details of the country's financial performance in January 2009.
By the end of January, broad money M2 reached RMB 49.61 trillion ($7.26 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 18.79 percent. The growth rate was up 0.97 of a percentage point compared with the end of 2008.
By the end of January, total outstanding bank loans of financial institutions in China stood at RMB 33.6 trillion ($4.92 trillion), up 19.78 percent year on year. Meanwhile, total bank loans issued reached RMB 31.99 trillion ($4.68 trillion), up 21.33 percent. The growth rate was up 2.6 percentage points compared with the end of the previous year. China's new loans in January reached RMB 1.62 trillion ($237.2 billion), up RMB 814.1 billion ($119.2 billion) year on year.
By the end of January, total deposits at Chinese financial institutions amounted to RMB 48.16 trillion ($7.05 trillion), up 22.98 percent year on year. The growth rate was 3.25 percentage points higher than that of the end of the previous year.
Significantly, China's new loans in January rallied strongly, exceeding the estimate of RMB 1.2 trillion ($175.7 billion) and marking a new historical high, and also indicating China's determination in pushing forward economic growth.