(Yicai Global) Sept. 11 --- China’s broad money supply grew 10.4 percent in August year on year, below market expectations, as credit growth tightened.

M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose to CNY213.68 trillion (USD31 trillion) in August, the People's Bank of China said today.

This is a further slackening from July’s figure of 10.7 percent, the first slowdown since February, and below the prediction of 10.78 percent given by 25 chief economists polled in a Yicai Global survey.

Total social financing, a measurement of funds the real economy receives from the financial system, as well as new yuan-denominated loans both exceeded analysts’ expectations, though, indicating there were still plenty of fresh funds flowing into the real economy in August.

Total social financing rose CNY3.58 trillion (USD523.7 billion), 63.5 percent more than the same period last year, and much higher than the CNY2.49 trillion predicted.

New yuan loans reached CNY1.28 trillion (USD187.3 billion), more than 18 times the amount released a year ago, and surpassing the CNY1.26 trillion anticipated.

Editor: Kim Taylor