Economist says fast credit growth 'cyclical'

BEIJING - An acceleration in China's credit growth in the first quarter of the year was cyclical and temporary, a senior economist said on Tuesday.

The growth of M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, was within reasonable range, said Ma Jun, chief economist at the research bureau of the People's Bank of China.

China's new yuan loans rose to 4.61 trillion yuan during the first three months, up 930.1 billion yuan from a year earlier.

The M2 rose 13.4 percent year on year to 144.62 trillion yuan at the end of March.

Pro-growth measures, recovering property markets and rising commodity prices created demand for loans, Ma said, while adding that private investment remained depressed during the same period.

"China's current monetary policy is mainly aimed at stabilizing economic growth," he said.

In addition to bolstering the economy, the country's monetary policy will also feature risk prevention in the future, and will also take consumer prices and property prices into consideration, Ma said.

The country's economy grew 6.7 percent year on year to reach 15.9 trillion yuan in the first quarter of 2016. The growth further narrowed from the previous quarter's 6.8 percent, which was already the lowest quarterly rate since the global financial crisis.