Financial Sector Enjoys Steady Growth 　　The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank, released statistics showing the nation's financial sector that had operated smoothly during January, with the yuan remaining stable and a steady growth for both bank loans and deposits. 　　Statistics show the volume of broad money (M2) hit RMB$10.55 trillion yuan by the end of January, up 14.4 percent over the previous year's period. The outstanding amount of narrow money (M1) grew 9.6 percent to RMB$3.9 trillion yuan, and money in circulation (M 0) ended the month at nearly RMB$1.2 trillion yuan. New bank notes totaling RMB$79.26 billion yuan were issued during the month. 　　The volume of outstanding loans from financial institutions stood at RMB$8.65 trillion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 15.6 percent, with the figure for state banks growing 16 percent to RMB6.85 trillion yuan. 　　Total savings deposits reached RMB$9.6 trillion yuan, up 18.7 percent on January 1998, with enterprise deposits rising 19 percent to RMB$3.18 trillion yuan and personal deposits growing 16.7 percent to RMB$5.43 trillion yuan. 　　Statistics also show a 7.4 percent excess reserve rate for state-owned commercial banks and 8.8 percent rate for other commercial banks. The figures highlighted the strong payment capability of the nation's commercial banks. 　　The yuan-US dollar exchange rate remained stable at 8.2778:1, with a balanced supply and demand on the foreign exchange market.. Economicnews 1999-02-14 Page1 Full Story in Chinese