China's outstanding social financing up 14.3% in 2014

BEIJING - China's outstanding total social financing stood at 123 trillion yuan ($20 trillion) at the end of 2014, up 14.3 percent year on year, new data from the central bank showed on Tuesday.

It was the first time the People's Bank of China (PBOC) has published this new liquidity measurement, following the release of incremental social financing data in 2011.

Outstanding social financing, a broad measure of money supply, refers to all money borrowed from financial institutions by individuals and non-financial enterprises, together with total funds raised from the capital market.

Compared to the previous measure, the new indicator is more stable and will help analysts to grasp a general trend and structure, said Zeng Gang of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

It will also better reflect the relation between finance and the real economy, he added.

China's outstanding social financing equaled to 193 percent of GDP in 2014, more than 8 times that of 2002 with annual average growth at 19.3 percent.

Outstanding yuan-denominated loans increased by 13.6 percent from a year ago to 81.4 trillion yuan, accounting for around a two third of the total outstanding social financing.

A PBOC official said the new measure showed a falling proportion of yuan-denominated loans, rapidly growing direct fund raising and increasing support to the real economy from off-balance sheet business.

The official said the indicator will encourage low risk direct financing and help make macro-economic regulation more effective and targeted.