China’s new bank loans rose by 1.89 trillion yuan in May, which was much more than expected.

Beijing (Reuters) – In May, Chinese banks gave out 1.89 trillion yuan ($282.62 billion) in new loans, which was a big jump from April and more than what analysts expected. This is because policymakers are trying to turn around a sharp economic slump caused by COVID.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters said that new loans in yuan would rise to 1.3 trillion yuan in May, up from 645.4 billion yuan in April and 1.5 trillion yuan a year earlier.

The broad M2 money supply grew by 11.1% from a year ago, according to data released by the central bank on Friday. This was more than the 10.4% growth predicted by a Reuters poll. M2 grew by 10.5% from a year ago to April.

In May, the number of outstanding yuan loans grew by 11.0% compared to the same time last year. In April, they grew by 10.9%. Analysts had expected growth of 10.7%.

($1 is worth 6.6875 Chinese yuan).