Some major Chinese banks stepped up lending toward the end of August and reduced a backlog in property loans after being advised by the central bank to increase loan quotas for the month, two sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
The guidance from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) comes after China’s new loans in July grew at the slowest pace since last October, and as the country’s economy faces increasing pressure.
PBOC Governor Yi Gang told a meeting with banks last week that it would boost liquidity to the real economy and enhance the stability of credit growth.
“We’ve ramped up lending over the past few days, a small part of which is property loans in the backlog,” said one of the people. “The lending (in August) is still weak.”
The other person said they have also accelerated payment of loans approved earlier to property developers and home buyers.
Source: Reuters Reporting by Shanghai and Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Jacqueline Wong