China's central bank to maintain policy support as financial figures show steady growth in August

BEIJING, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank said Friday that it will maintain its monetary policy support to contribute to economic growth, as financial data continued to show steady growth in August, according to a statement published on the website of the People's Bank of China.

The central bank said the growth rate of M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, has been relatively stable, with a 6.3 percent year-on-year growth to reach 305.05 trillion yuan (about 43 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of August.

According to the data released by the central bank, the outstanding balance of social financing reached 398.56 trillion yuan by the end of last month, growing by 8.1 percent year on year.

During the period, outstanding yuan loans totaled 252.02 trillion yuan, marking an increase of 8.5 percent year on year.

The central bank said the steady growth momentum of the data has formed solid support for the real economy.

The credit structure has continued to improve, with loans increasingly flowing toward major strategies, key areas and weak links, the central bank said, noting that this has effectively supported the acceleration of economic structural optimization.

In the next step, the central bank will introduce more flexible and targeted monetary policies, while strengthening the intensity of regulation.

Favorable policies will be introduced to further reduce enterprises' financing costs and residents' loan costs, and maintain a reasonably ample level of liquidity, the central bank said.