China credit growth accelerates, defying property purchase curbs

[BEIJING] China's broadest measure of new credit increased more than estimated in March even as authorities push to ease soaring property prices and reduce excessive borrowing.

Aggregate financing stood at 2.12 trillion yuan (S$429.96 million), the People's Bank of China said Friday, compared with a median estimate of 1.5 trillion yuan in a Bloomberg survey New yuan loans stood at 1.02 trillion yuan, compared with an estimated 1.2 trillion yuan.

The broad M2 money supply increased 10.6 per cent, versus a projected 11.1 per cent rise The acceleration suggests a government campaign to ease financial and property-market risks may take longer to implement, following home purchase curbs rolled out in big cities.

Policy makers last month cut the money supply growth target to 12 per cent this year from 13 per cent last year, with a growth target of "around 6.5 percent, or higher if possible".

"While further tightening is likely, the PBOC will remain cautious in practice to avoid creating excessive market volatility," Shen Jianguang, chief Asia economist at Mizuho Securities Asia Ltd in Hong Kong, wrote in a recent note.

BLOOMBERG