Banks to lend US$430m to rebuild Sichuan

Mainland banks have promised to lend nearly US$430 million to rebuild Sichuan, the South China Morning Post reported. Lenders including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), China Construction Bank and China Minsheng Banking Corp also said they would provide debt relief for victims of the earthquake. ABC has estimated a combined US$1.18 billion of bad debt and US$859 million in non-performing loans resulting from the quake. Analysts said the impact of earthquake-related credit issues on banks would be limited due to low commercial bank credit exposure in Sichuan and the banks’ strong finances before the quake.