March bank lending may top 900bn yuan

China’s four largest banks doled out around RMB300 billion (US$47.5 billion) in new loans during March, indicating that overall banking sector lending may have been over RMB900 billion (US$142.7 billion) for the month, Reuters reported, citing China’s Securities Times. If accurate, the figure would be well above the RMB710.7 billion (US$112.7 billion) in new loans doled out during February and may indicate that the government is conducting further monetary and fiscal easing. Separately, a report by Deloitte argued that a rise in non-performing loans at Chinese banks may be around the corner, though the firm said that the ratio of bad loans should be in the low single digits and will not be a threat to China’s overall financial health. Bad debt has been a persistent worry among Chinese banks since a lending splurge in 2009 to stimulate the economy.