2024-04-12 14:17:01
Total credit grows steadily and loan interest rates remain at historically low levels – A look into first quarter financial data
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 12 Topic: The total amount of credit has grown steadily and loan interest rates have remained at historically low levels – A look into the financial data of the first quarter
Xinhua News Agency reporters Wu Yu and Liu Kaixiong
Data released by the People’s Bank of China on the 12th showed that my country’s RMB loans increased by 9.46 trillion yuan in the first quarter, which was at a high level in the same period in history. Experts said that the total number of loans increased steadily in the first quarter, providing solid support to the real economy. The People’s Bank of China has strengthened its guidance on the balanced granting of credit by financial institutions, and the price and flow of credit funds have shown many bright spots, creating a suitable monetary and financial environment for the economy to rebound and improve.
New loans are at historically high levels
Financial statistics released by the People’s Bank of China that day showed that at the end of March, my country’s RMB loan balance was 247.05 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%; the stock of social financing was 390.32 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.7%; the balance of broad money (M2) was 304.8 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.3%.
Experts believe that credit growth is more stable and balanced, the scale of social financing remains relatively high, the total M2 exceeds 300 trillion yuan, and financial support for the real economy is solid and quality and efficiency are improved.
Although new loans increased by more than 1 trillion yuan in the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, it is still the second highest level in the same period in history, and is more than 1 trillion yuan more than the same period in 2022. Industry insiders believe that this is mainly affected by factors such as the high base in the same period last year and the balanced credit extension of financial institutions.
“Banks often have the habit of increasing their credit scale in the first quarter, which will cause certain overdrafts in the next three quarters. Since the second half of last year, the People’s Bank of China has focused on guiding financial institutions to provide balanced investment to avoid idling funds and leave room to support the real economy. It has staying power,” said Wen Bin, chief economist at China Minsheng Bank.
At the end of March, M2 balance increased by 8.3% year-on-year, and the growth rate dropped year-on-year. “As the economy continues to pick up and improve, it is normal for M2 to fall moderately after the epidemic prevention and control phase is over. This reflects that bank asset expansion and money creation are moving closer to a balanced, stable and sustainable track.” Wen Bin said.
Faced with a total M2 volume of over 300 trillion yuan, many market participants believe that the current currency stock is large enough to lay the foundation for promoting investment and consumption. With the acceleration of economic recovery, structural transformation and upgrading, and the further cultivation of new driving forces, revitalizing inefficiently occupied financial resources in the next stage is a more important direction to improve the quality and efficiency of financial services. In the future, more benefits will be obtained from existing resources.
The picture shows a bank employee counting banknotes.Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Xin
Credit structure continues to be optimized to improve quality and efficiency
Data show that in the first quarter, loans to enterprises (and institutions) increased by 7.77 trillion yuan, accounting for more than 80% of all new loans.
In recent years, the proportion of loans in new driving force areas such as inclusive small and micro businesses, green development, and technological innovation has continued to increase in my country, and the loan growth rate has remained above double digits. Experts said that my country’s current credit structure continues to be optimized, and the parts that are conducive to high-quality development are increasing. The size, proportion, and growth rate of real estate and local financing platform loans are all declining.
The reporter learned that at the end of March, according to data from major banks, the year-on-year growth rates of green loans, inclusive small and micro loans, and manufacturing medium and long-term loan balances all remained at a high level of around 20% to 30%; the growth rate of private enterprise loans The growth rate is faster than the growth rate of all loans; among the technology innovation companies currently receiving loan support, more than 90% are privately held companies.
On April 7, the People’s Bank of China announced the establishment of a 500 billion yuan re-loan for technological innovation and technological transformation with an interest rate of 1.75%, aiming to encourage and guide financial institutions to increase financial support for technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, technological transformation and equipment update projects in key areas. intensity.
Experts said that driven by the incentives of structural monetary policy tools, the credit structure of commercial banks will further accelerate the adjustment and optimization. At the same time, direct financing that is more suitable for the development of new driving forces such as technological innovation needs to be accelerated to promote a more balanced development of the bond and credit markets.
The People’s Bank of China has stated many times that there will still be ample policy space and a rich reserve of tools in the future. The reporter learned from industry insiders that in the future, open market buying and selling of government bonds may be included in the policy toolbox of the People’s Bank of China.
Experts analyzed that my country’s inclusion of buying and selling treasury bonds in its policy toolbox is fundamentally different from European and American countries that have exhausted their normal monetary policies and been forced to purchase treasury bonds in large quantities. Over the years, my country’s treasury bond market has experienced sustained and substantial development, which has provided conditions for the People’s Bank of China to carry out treasury bond spot buying and selling operations. The People’s Bank of China may use treasury bond buying and selling as a policy tool to proactively enrich liquidity based on regulatory needs.
Loan interest rates continue to fall and are at historically low levels
In February, the first reserve requirement ratio reduction was implemented this year, which led to a decrease of 25 basis points in the loan prime rate (LPR) with a maturity of more than 5 years and drove loan interest rates further downward.
The reporter’s research revealed that in March, the interest rates on newly issued corporate loans and personal housing loans were both around 3.7%, down approximately 0.2 and 0.4 percentage points respectively year-on-year, and were at historically low levels. At the same time, loan interest rates in key areas and weak links fell more.
“Loan interest rates continue to fall, and the loan interest burden of enterprises and residents is further reduced, which also stimulates credit demand and helps maintain the stable and healthy development of the real estate market.” Dong Ximiao, chief researcher of China Merchants Union, said that as the economy further rebounds and improves, prices Overall, there is a moderate recovery, and real interest rates will fall further in the future. In particular, loan interest rates for companies in the new energy sector will fall further.
At the same time, the effect of banks’ independent adjustment of deposit interest rates continues to show, with medium and long-term deposit interest rates falling significantly. At present, the weighted average interest rate of time deposits has dropped to about 2%, which is about 0.3 percentage points lower than the same period last year.
Data show that in the first quarter, my country’s RMB deposits increased by 11.24 trillion yuan, of which household deposits increased by 8.56 trillion yuan. “Banks’ initiative to lower deposit interest rates will help stabilize bank liability costs.” Dong Ximiao said that from the perspective of term structure, the 3-year and 5-year time deposit interest rates have dropped significantly, which will help alleviate the trend of long-term and fixed-term deposits. Further enhance banks’ ability to support the real economy.
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