Total social financing availability jumps in June

Official data showed that total social financing, the broadest measure of the country's credit growth, increased by a total of 9.75 trillion yuan ($1.46 trillion) in the first half of this year.

This level of credit growth is appropriate for the broader economy, but more targeted polices are needed to help boost financing in the private sector, according to Sheng Songcheng, head of the surveys and statistics department of the People's Bank of China.

The total social financing increase in May was 659.9 billion and market expectations were for a June rise of 1.1 trillion. However, the actual rise showed a bigger-than-expected June stimulus amounting to 1.63 trillion yuan.

New yuan loans issued to the real economy rose by 7.48 trillion yuan in the first six months of this year, up by 894.9 billion yuan compared with the same period a year earlier.

Xie Yaxuan, chief economist at China Merchants Securities Co, said that credit growth in the first half of this year is adequate to stabilize growth in the second half of the year.

"The government has no intention to take massive stimulus measures or seek short-term growth at the cost of long-term financial and economic stability," said Xie.

In the meantime, a continued increase of the narrow measure of money supply (M1) points to the need to take more measures to increase financing in the private sector.

M1 money supply, which includes liquid assets such as cash and demand deposits, increased by 24.6 percent year-on-year, showing a widened divergence with M2 money supply, a broader monetary measure that also includes longer-term assets grew only at 11.8 percent.

"They have weak willingness to make investments and have rising difficulties finding appropriate projects in which to invest," said Sheng.

Lian Ping, chief economist of the Bank of Communications Co, said that many small and medium-sized companies face tight credit conditions despite the country's rapid lending expansion.

"It makes sense for the central bank to maintain a prudent monetary policy in the second half of the year. But we do need more targeted policies to help corporate financing," said Lian.