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Bankers less pessimistic about economy in Q1: survey

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-14 19:39

BEIJING -- Chinese bankers are becoming less pessimistic about the macro economy during the first quarter of 2009, said a survey on Friday.

The survey, which reflected quarter-on-quarter economic changes, was conducted jointly by the central bank and the National Bureau of Statistics.

The survey's sample was from headquarters officials and local branch directors from around 2,900 banking institutions.

The bankers' confidence index over the macro economy fell 1.7 percentage points to 25.6 percent in the first quarter, but the decline slowed down 17.1 percentage points, it said.

A reading on those economic indexes above 50 percent suggests expansion, while below 50 indicates contraction.

A total of 50 percent of the bankers believed the monetary policy during the first quarter was "appropriate", down 6.5 percentage points from the previous quarter, while 45.1 percent of them said the policy was "a bit loose", up 26.2 percentage points.

Driven by the 4-trillion-yuan ($588 billion) stimulus package, the credit loans in the first two months jumped to 2.69 trillion yuan, up from 1.64 trillion yuan the same period last year. Aggrandized credit loans may have added concerns to those bankers.

More than half of the bankers predicted the monetary policy would remain the same in next quarter, up 7.6 percentage points.

In addition, index of demand for loans rose 5.6 percentage points to 67.5 percent in the first quarter, as demand for loans in agricultural, manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors rose 3.8, 3.8 and 5.4 percentage points to 62.6 percent, 62.5 percent and 63.5 percent, respectively.

Demand for loans in business, fixed-asset investment and consumption also rose 3.2, 5.6 and 7.1 percentage points to 65.8 percent, 62.5 percent and 58.9 percent, respectively.

The banking industry climate index fell 1.7 percentage points to 63.8 percent, but the decline was 1.3 percentage points slower than the previous quarter, the survey showed.