China’s four largest banks doled out US$22 billion worth of new loans in October, state media reported, citing the China Securities Journal. Lending was not spread evenly over the month: While 80 billion renminbi (US$12.6 billion) was lent during October 1-20, the pace surged to 60 billion yuan (US$9.4 billion) over the following seven days. Total new bank lending was 5.7 trillion renminbi (US$897 billion) for the first seven months of the year, and is expected to clock in at 7.5 trillion for the whole year. Market watchers anticipate that Beijing will begin loosening credit restrictions imposed earlier this year, as the threat from inflation ebbs and small companies face a tight credit market. However, Xu Ce, an official from China’s State Information Center, wrote in the China Securities Journal that a “full easing in monetary policy is not likely.”
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