WRAPUP 1-Hints of cooling China economy in FDI, loan data
Reuters, 11.12.03, 6:11 AM ET
By Scott Hillis
BEIJING, Nov 12 (Reuters) - Foreign direct investment and loan growth in China declined in October data issued on Wednesday, suggesting the economy may be starting to cool after months of blistering growth.
The central bank, the People's Bank of China, said the loan data showed its efforts to avert overheating were working, although economists said they needed much more evidence to conclude that monetary growth was slowing.
Commerce Ministry figures showed foreign direct investment in China had been down by a third in October from a year earlier, the fifth month in a row to show a fall, and was up only 5.8 percent in the January-October period -- although pledges of future investment for the world's sixth-largest economy were up strongly.
October's yuan-denominated lending rose by 61.6 billion yuan, 10.6 billion yuan less than a year earlier, the central bank said.
"This was the first reduction in growth all year, and the trend in lending growth is seeing a slowdown," the bank said on its Web site (www.pbc.gov.cn).
"This shows that the policy effectiveness of the series of macro-financial adjustment measures taken by the central bank has started to appear," it said without elaborating.
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