China's March bank lending seen surging on post-holiday rebound: Reuters poll

By Shi Bu and Kevin Yao

BEIJING, April 9 (Reuters) - Chinese banks likely extended significantly more new loans in March than in February, according to a Reuters poll on Thursday, driven by improved credit demand and a seasonal rebound.

Banks in China are expected to have issued around 3.4 trillion yuan ($497.61 billion) in net new yuan loans last month, up sharply from the 900 billion yuan in February, based on the average estimate of 17 economists polled by Reuters.

March is typically a strong month for lending, as activity recovers after the Chinese New Year lull and banks accelerate loan issuance to meet first-quarter targets.

* The survey showed loan expectations still lower than 3.64trillion yuan issued in March 2025. * "Bills discounting rate has been moving sidewaysthroughout March, indicating steady but not really strong creditdemand," Citi Research said in a note. * Last month, China's factory activity expanded at itsfastest pace in a year underpinned by improved demand, officialdata showed. * The Chinese central bank pledged to ramp up financialbacking for domestic demand, innovation and small businesses,but has signalled no imminent broad-based rate cut. * Goldman Sachs on Sunday dropped its call for a 10basis-point rate cut this year, saying the central bank wouldonly ease policy "if the growth outlook deterioratessignificantly." * Broader M2 money supply was expected to have grown 8.9%last month from a year earlier, slightly slower than the 9% inFebruary, the poll showed. * Outstanding yuan loans were estimated to have grown 5.9%in March from a year before, slowing from 6% growth the previousmonth. * Total social financing - a broad measure of credit andliquidity - likely more than doubled to 5.4 trillion yuan inMarch from 2.38 trillion yuan the previous month.

($1 = 6.8327 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Shi Bu, Kevin Yao; Polling by Renusri K and Rahul Trivedi in Bengaluru and Jing Wang in Shanghai; Editing by Eileen Soreng)