China's new yuan loans fall in April

BEIJING - China's new yuan-denominated loans stood at 1.02 trillion yuan ($150.7 billion) in April 2019, 161.5 billion yuan less than the same period last year, central bank data showed Thursday.

The increase was down from a gain of 1.69 trillion yuan in March.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 8.5 percent year-on-year to 188.47 trillion yuan at the end of April, according to the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

The M2 growth was 0.1 percentage points slower from the level at the end of March but was 0.2 percentage points faster than the same period last year.

The narrow measure of the money supply (M1), which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, rose 2.9 percent year-on-year to 54.06 trillion yuan by the end of last month.

M0, the amount of cash in circulation, increased 3.5 percent year-on-year to 7.4 trillion yuan by the end of April, according to the PBOC.

Newly-added social financing, a measurement of funds that individuals and non-financial firms get from the financial system, stood at 1.36 trillion yuan in April, 408 billion yuan less than the same period last year.

By the end of April, China's total outstanding social financing rose 10.4 percent year on year to 209.68 trillion yuan.