China's new yuan loans surge to record high in January

Beijing

CHINESE banks armed with fresh lending quotas extended a record 2.51 trillion yuan (S$540 billion) of new loans in January, far more than markets had expected, suggesting Beijing is keeping monetary policy loose to counter a protracted economic slowdown.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected new yuan loans to surge to a near seven-year high of 1.8 trillion yuan in January, tripling from 597.8 billion yuan in December.

Analysts attributed t…