Statistics released Wednesday by the People's Bank of China, the central bank, indicate that the growth of China's currency credit supply this year basically matches the country's national economic growth.

A bank spokesman said that this year the central bank continued to implement prudent monetary policies to support the expanding of domestic demand and economic development.

As a result, the overall currency credit supply has been growing steadily with credit structure further improved. At the end of November, the outstanding amount of broad money (M2) stood at 15.4 trillion yuan, up 13.2 percent from the same period last year; while that of narrow money (M1) was 5.7 trillion yuan, up 11.4 percent; that of money in circulation (M0) was 1.478 trillion yuan, up 6.5 percent.

At the same time, the total loans outstanding stood at 11 trillion yuan, up 10.9 percent in constant terms. In the first 11 months a total of 1.0688 trillion yuan of loans was added.

The total of outstanding deposits was 14 trillion yuan, up 15.1percent, of which corporate deposits accounted for 4.9 trillion yuan, while individual deposits accounted for 7.23 trillion yuan.

The exchange rate of Renminbi stood at 8.2774 yuan for one US dollar at the end of November, appreciating by seven basic points from at the end of last year. The spokesman said that the central bank will continue to carryout the policies of expanding domestic demand and prudent monetary policies so as to keep an appropriate growth of currency credit supply.

Commercial banks will be encouraged to appropriately increase working capital supply, and financial support given to corporate technological upgrading efforts, small enterprises and farmers will be stepped up.

(People's Daily December 12, 2001)