China's central bank releases first quarter data for 2021

(ATF) China’s central bank has released its Financial Statistics Report for the first quarter of 2021. In a press release, the People’s Bank of China said “broad” money (M2) grew by 9.4% and “narrow” money (M1) expanded by 7.1% during the first three months of the year.

At the end of March, the balance of broad money (M2) was 227.65 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.4%, and the growth rate was 0.7 percentage points lower than the end of last month and the same period last year. The balance of ‘narrow’ money ( M1) was 61.61 trillion yuan, an increase of 7.1% year-on-year, which was 0.3 percentage points lower than the end of last month and 2.1 percentage points higher than the same period last year; the balance of currency in circulation (M0) was 8.65 trillion yuan, an increase of 4.2% year-on-year. In the first quarter, the net cash injection was 222.9 billion yuan.

In the first quarter, yuan loans increased by 7.67 trillion yuan, and foreign currency loans increased by US$49.5 billion. At the end of March, the balance of domestic and foreign currency loans was 186.44 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.3%. The balance of yuan loans at the end of the month was 180.41 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.6%, and the growth rate was 0.3 and 0.1 percentage points lower than the end of the previous month and the same period of the previous year, respectively. Yuan loans increased by 7.67 trillion yuan, an increase of 574.1 billion yuan year-on-year.

In terms of sectors, household loans increased by 2.56 trillion yuan, of which short-term loans increased by 582.9 billion yuan, medium and long-term loans increased by 1.98 trillion yuan; corporate (institutional) loans increased by 5.35 trillion yuan, medium and long-term loans increased by 4.47 trillion yuan, bill financing decreased by 478.5 billion yuan; loans from non-banking financial institutions decreased by 208.2 billion yuan. In March, yuan loans increased by 2.73 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 103.9 billion yuan.

Foreign currency loans

At the end of March, the balance of foreign currency loans was $916.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 12.8%. In the first quarter, foreign currency loans increased by $49.5 billion, an increase of $24 billion year-on-year. In March, foreign currency loans increased by $1.8 billion, an increase of $5.1 billion year-on-year.

In the first quarter, yuan deposits increased by 8.35 trillion yuan, and foreign currency deposits increased by $67.5 billion. At the end of March, the balance of domestic and foreign currency deposits was 227.21 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.1%. The balance of yuan deposits at the end of the month was 220.92 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.9%. The growth rate was 0.5 percentage points lower than the end of the previous month and 0.6 percentage points higher than the same period last year. In the first quarter, yuan deposits increased by 8.35 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 284.4 billion yuan.

Among them, household deposits increased by 6.68 trillion yuan, non-financial corporate deposits increased by 257.4 billion yuan, fiscal deposits decreased by 163.3 billion yuan, and deposits by non-banking financial institutions increased by 1.17 trillion yuan. In March, yuan deposits increased by 3.63 trillion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 469.6 billion yuan. At the end of March, the balance of foreign currency deposits was $956.8 billion, a year-on-year increase of 25%. Foreign currency deposits increased by $67.5 billion in the first quarter, an increase of $59.9 billion year-on-year. In March, foreign currency deposits fell by $4.9 billion, a decrease of $17.2 billion year-on-year.

The monthly weighted average interest rate of yuan interbank lending in March was 2.01%, and the monthly weighted average interest rate of pledged bond repurchase was 2.01%. In the first quarter, the inter-bank renminbi market had a total turnover of 298.41 trillion by means of interbank lending, cash bonds and repurchase. The average daily turnover was 4.97 trillion yuan, and the average daily turnover increased by 3.5% year-on-year. Among them, the average daily transaction of interbank lending decreased by 11.6% year-on-year, the average daily transaction of spot bonds decreased by 7.1% year-on-year, and the average daily transaction of pledged repo increased by 8.8% year-on-year. The weighted average interest rate of interbank lending in March was 2.01%, which was 0.05 percentage points lower than the previous month and 0.61 percentage points higher than the same period last year; the weighted average interest rate of pledged repo was 2.01%, which was 0.09 percentage points lower than the previous month. Over the same period, it was 0.57 percentage points higher.

Foreign exchange reserve balance

The State’s foreign exchange reserve balance was $3.17 trillion at the end of March. And the yuan exchange rate was 6.5713 yuan per US dollar.

In the first quarter, cross-border trade yuan settlement business was 1.7 trillion yuan, and direct investment yuan settlement business was 1.17 trillion yuan. In the first quarter, cross-border trade in goods, service trade and other current accounts, foreign direct investment, foreign direct investment, and foreign direct investment were settled in yuan in the first quarter. Foreign direct investment was 1.29 trillion yuan, 0.41 trillion yuan, 0.32 trillion yuan, and 0.85 trillion yuan, respectively.

The central bank says the the data for the current period is preliminary.

The bank also noted that since 2015, yuan, foreign currency, and domestic and foreign currency deposits include deposits from non-banking financial institutions, and yuan, foreign currency, and domestic and foreign currency loans include loans to non-banking financial institutions. Also the enterprise (institution) loan in the report refers to loans of non-financial enterprises and government agencies.