Regulator urges loan support to private sector By Chuan Yu (China Daily) Updated: 2004-08-03 08:39
China's banking regulator has urged commercial banks to take a differentiated
approach when tightening lending policies as part of the State's efforts to cool
down expansive investment and credit growth.
Liu Mingkang, chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), called
upon financial institutions to step up support - especially to the nation's
privately-owned companies - during a tour late last week to East China's
Zhejiang Province, where the private sector is the most developed.
"For various reasons, the private sector has experienced new situations and
difficulties while benefiting from the ongoing round of macro management," he
said on Sunday.
Liu acknowledged some banks have taken a simplistic "one-knife-cuts-all"
approach when tightening loans as required by the State's recent macroeconomic
measures, urging banks to try to meet businesses' normal funding needs and
improving their services.
He said legitimate funding needs, even from companies in the overheated
sectors such as steel and cement, should be met.
Frenzied fixed investment and bank loan growth in some sectors starting in
the second half of last year has prompted the government to take a string of
tightening measures, including requiring banks to set aside more reserves to
restrict their lending capacities and tightening land controls.
The growth in fixed investment and bank lending slowed down significantly in
April and May, boosting confidence that the State's measures are working and
reducing the possibility of further tightening measures that some fear would
lead to an abrupt economic slowdown.
But many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), mostly privately-owned,
have been experiencing liquidity difficulties recently as some banks have become
excessively strict with their lending operations.
New bank loans in the first half of this year were 350 billion yuan (US$42
billion) less than a year earlier, mainly because of decreases in short-term
working capital loans and those through commercial bills.
"The number (of companies suffering liquidity difficulties due to strict bank
lending) is presumably not a small one," said Qin Chijiang, deputy
secretary-general of the China Society of Finance.
The victims are mostly SMEs and more profitable companies, said Qin, who
surveyed companies in North China's Shanxi Province last month.
Liquidity pressures have also pushed many SMEs to unregulated private lending
markets, which has drawn attention from the financial authorities.
In Wenzhou of Zhejiang Province, lendings among individuals and companies are
estimated to have grown to 35 billion yuan (US$4.2 billion) in recent months, as
compared to an average of 20 billion (US$2.4 billion).
Low interest rates on bank deposits, with the one-year rate standing at a
years-low of 1.98 per cent, have made underground lending far more attractive.
The one-month lending rate in some underground markets has capped 1 per cent in
recent months, earlier reports said.
As banks adjust their lending terms, the CBRC's Liu said, privately-owned
companies need to improve their corporate governance mechanisms, control their
debt burdens, enhance transparency and make better use of consulting services
available when formulating strategic plans.
The regulator also urged the companies to concentrate on their core business
and refrain from expanding into other regions prematurely or becoming involved
in too many affiliated transactions.