CBRC official: Banks lent $146b in June

China’s banks are on track to issue US$146.35 billion in new loans for the month of June, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an official from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC). The figure is a sharp increase over slower growth seen in the last two months and comes despite concern from government officials that many of the funds had been misdirected into the stock market and real estate investments. Other sources reported even higher figures: The China Securities Journal said on Friday that lending in June had already reached US$175.62 billion. Officials from the CBRC said that despite the high June figure, "lending is under control." Banks lent US$640 billion during the first quarter of 2009. Lending then slowed to US$86.61 billion in April and US$97.25 billion in May.