China money supply growth slows to 10-year low

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) said Thursday that lending and money supply growth slowed in November, a further indication of decelerating growth in the world’s second-biggest economy, Bloomberg reported. New renminbi lending was RMB562.2 billion (US$88 billion), down 4.2% from the previous month, while M2, the broadest measure of money supply, grew 12.7%, the slowest growth recorded since May 2001. The slowdown may give China’s leaders further room to loosen monetary policy following a cut to bank reserve requirements on December 5. “Inflation is no longer a constraint on monetary policy,” said Wang Tao, a Hong Kong-based economist with UBS AG (UBS.NYSE), before the release. “Further weakness in real economic growth, such as exports, industrial production and construction, will trigger more monetary easing.”