The ABC predicts its credit growth will exceed expectations

The Agricultural Bank of China is likely to see its credit growth between September and December exceeding that of the same period last year, said its chairman Gu Shu on Monday.

New yuan loans from the large State-owned commercial lender in China reached 168.1 billion yuan ($24.33 billion) in July, 37.8 billion yuan more than the amount in July 2021. It is estimated that the ABC's credit issuance in August will be higher than that over the same period last year, and the trend will continue through the last four months of this year, said Gu at a news conference announcing the bank's 2022 interim results.

As of the end of last week, corporate loans that had been approved by the ABC but had not yet been issued amounted to 2.47 trillion yuan. The figure was nearly 800 billion yuan higher than that of the same period last year, he said.

In contrast, the balance of China's yuan-denominated loans, which increased by 679 billion yuan in July, dropped by 404.2 billion yuan from the same period last year, according to the People's Bank of China, the nation's central bank.

"The decline in China's new yuan loans in July was a temporary phenomenon, which was mainly affected by weak expectations for the housing market. In the long run, however, it is only a fluctuation during the process of Chinese economic transformation and does not necessarily represent the trend," Gu said.

"With the support of a suite of policies to stabilize the macroeconomy, we believe that effective investments will expand steadily, and the consumption and housing market expectations will stabilize gradually," he said. He later added that the bank's outlook for the Chinese economy is part of the reason for the expectation that its credit growth for the rest of the year is very likely to surpass that of the same period last year.

In the next step, the ABC will keep optimizing its credit structure and further allocate credit resources to key areas such as rural revitalization, major infrastructure projects, green finance and inclusive loans to micro and small businesses, said its executive vice-president Zhang Xuguang.

The bank will also strengthen financial services for the manufacturing sector and sci-tech innovation companies, and give credit support to the demand for rigid and upgraded housing, Gu said.

jiangxueqing@chinadaily.com.cn