China's new yuan loans fall in August

BEIJING - China's new yuan-denominated loans reached 1.21 trillion yuan (about $170.9 billion) in August, 66.5 billion yuan less than the same period last year, central bank data showed Wednesday.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 8.2 percent year on year to 193.55 trillion yuan at the end of August, according to the People's Bank of China (PBOC).

The M2 growth was 0.1 percentage points faster than the level at the end of July and kept unchanged with the level of the same period last year.

The narrow measure of the money supply (M1), which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, rose 3.4 percent year on year to 55.68 trillion yuan by the end of last month.

M0, the amount of cash in circulation, increased 4.8 percent year on year to 7.32 trillion yuan by the end of August, 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 1.98 trillion yuan in August, 37.6 billion yuan higher than the same period last year.

By the end of August, China's total outstanding social financing rose 10.7 percent year on year to 216.01 trillion yuan.

Wednesday's data also showed that the new yuan-denominated deposits in China rose 1.8 trillion yuan in August, 714.7 billion yuan higher compared with a year earlier.