China's Bank Loan Growth Falls Sharply Below Expectations

Forex - New bank loans in China increased by much less than expected in November, indicating weak credit demand.
Chinese banks issued 580 billion yuan in new loans in November, a figure that increased compared to October but fell short of analysts' expectations.
Analysts surveyed by Reuters had predicted that new yuan loans, which stood at 500 billion yuan in October and 1.09 trillion yuan a year earlier, would rise to 990 billion yuan last month.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) does not provide monthly reports, but Reuters calculated the November figures by comparing them with the January-October data released by the bank on Friday based on the January-November figures.
The PBOC announced that the total new yuan loans for the first 11 months of the year amounted to 17.1 trillion yuan.
According to central bank data, the M2 money supply increased by 7.1% in November year-on-year, falling short of the 7.5% forecast. M2 grew by 7.5% in October.
The narrower M1 money supply decreased by 3.7% year-on-year in November, underperforming the 6.1% decline recorded in October.
Outstanding yuan loans rose by 7.7% year-on-year in November. Analysts had expected a slower growth rate of 7.9%, compared to the 8.0% growth recorded in October.