China July bank loans unexpectedly contract for first time in 20 years

From theedgemalaysia.com

China's new yuan loans contracted by 50 billion yuan (US$6.97 billion or RM29.4 billion) in July, falling well short of analysts' forecasts and plunging from 2.24 trillion yuan in June, according to Reuters calculations based on data released by the People's Bank of China. This marks the first contraction since July 2005 and the largest monthly decline since December 1999, according to central bank data. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected new yuan loans last month to reach 300 billion yuan, compared with 260 billion yuan a year ago. July typically sees lower loan disbursements as it follows strong credit ... (full story)