China reports record 9.59 trln yuan in loans in 2009

China's new yuan-denominated lending last year hit a record 9.59 trillion yuan (1.4 trillion U.S. dollars), almost double that of the previous year, the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, announced Friday.

The figure compared with the 5-trillion-yuan annual target the government set at the beginning of 2009.

New yuan-denominated lending in December rose to 379.8 billion yuan from November's 294.8 billion yuan and 253 billion yuan in October, the central bank said.

At the end of December, outstanding loans by financial institutions stood at 39.97 trillion yuan, up 31.74 percent year on year, according to the PBOC.

The broad measure of money supply, M2, which covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 27.68 percent from a year earlier as of the end of December, 9.86 percentage points higher from that at the end of 2008.

The narrow measure of money supply, M1 (cash in circulation plus current corporate deposits), was up 32.35 percent to 22 trillion yuan.

Renminbi deposits in 2009 were up by 13.13 trillion yuan, a rise of 5.44 trillion yuan year on year.

Source: Xinhua