China's bank lending increased sharply in May as policymakers stepped up efforts to boost credit to firms, official data revealed on Friday.
Banks extended CNY 1.89 trillion in May, the People's Bank of China reported. Lending was forecast to rise to CNY 1.3 billion from CNY 645.4 billion in April.
Aggregate financing increased to CNY 2.79 trillion from CNY 910.2 billion a month ago.
Further, data showed that growth in outstanding total social financing rose to 10.5 percent in May from 10.2 percent in the previous month.
Credit growth is likely to accelerate following the clear signal in late May that policymakers want banks to step up lending, economists at Capital Economics, said. More policy easing is likely.
But private sector credit demand is likely to remain subdued while, on current budgetary plans, local government borrowing is about to slow, they noted. A dramatic increase in credit growth still seems unlikely.
