Banking News
- 10 banks warned of credit growth risks
Date: 24-Apr-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
THE country's bank regulator has warned 10 commercial lenders about credit growth risks amid expectations the government will move to rein in the country's roaring economy, State media reported yesterday.
The 10 banks are China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, Bank of China, China Merchants Bank, CITIC Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Minsheng Bank, Industrial Bank, Huaxia Bank and Zheshang Bank, the 21st Century Business Herald said.
Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, warned of 'rather fast growth in credit during the first quarter by commercial banks,'the report said.
'We must analyse the reasons behind the fast expansion of credit and see if it is justified,'the paper quoted Liu as saying at a teleconference attended by bankers and regulators last Thursday.
Figures from the central bank showed that in the first three months of this year, new local-currency denominated loans reached 1.4 trillion yuan (US$181.2 billion), increasing by 167.8 billion yuan from a year earlier.
China's economic growth accelerated to 11.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of the year, stoking fears of overheating in an economy that has boomed on excessive liquidity and robust growth in fixed assets investment.
The government has also expressed fears of inflation with the consumer price index surging 3.3 percent in March, above the government-set inflation target of three percent for the year.
Liu at the meeting urged commercial banks to be cautious in issuing credit and step up risk management to ensure that bank-lending be in line with the Central Government's macro-economic control measures.
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