China Credit Gets a Lift From Bond Sales But Loan Growth Slows

(Bloomberg) — China’s credit growth received a boost from more government bond sales in May, but loans slowed again, a sign of stalling demand.

The stock of aggregate financing — a broad measure of credit — expanded 8.4% from a year ago, slightly above April’s figure. The acceleration was largely due to a pickup in government borrowing, with 1.2 trillion yuan ($165 billion) of bonds issued in the month. But the stock of outstanding loans grew at 8.9%, the slowest on record, and the broad M2 measure of money supply growth also weakened.