Financial Conditions (February 2003)
Central Bank of China
PRESS RELEASE Release Date: March 20, 2003
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Financial Conditions (February 2003)
Monetary Aggregates For the month of February 2003, the annual growth rates of
the monetary aggregates M1A, M1B and M2, measured on a daily average basis, were
6.23%, 6.89%, and 2.54%, respectively. Both M1A and M1B growth rates fell
sharply from those in the previous month mainly because the general public's
demand for currency in preparation for the Chinese lunar new year peaked at the
end of January this year but in early February last year, which led to a higher
comparison base, and because transactions in the stock market turned weak in the
month. The lower M2 growth was mainly due to foreign capital outflows, the
decrease in net foreign exchange proceeds from trade, as well as the
decelerating growth of loans and investments. The aggregate of M2 plus bond
funds held by the general public posted an annual growth rate of 4.04% for the
month. For the first two months of this year, M1A, M1B, M2 and M2 plus bond
funds exhibited average annual growth rates of 8.60%, 8.20%, 2.72% and 4.24%,
respectively.
Direct and Indirect Finance At the end of February, the annual growth rate of
total loans and investments in major financial institutions, including monetary
institutions and the Postal Savings System, declined from "2.08% at the end of
the previous month to "2.38% mainly due to the weak demand for funds from
enterprises resulting in the decrease in banks' claims on private enterprises
and others. If loans and investments extended by life insurance companies and
investment and trust companies, major financial institutions' reclassifying
non-accrual loans and writing-off bad loans, as well as funds raised directly
from financial markets were taken into account, the total funds raised by
non-financial sectors showed an annual growth rate of 3.14% for the month.
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Notes: 1. The upcoming Financial Conditions (March 2003) is to be released at
16:20 on April 25, 2003.
2. For the release schedule for the next six months, check the CBC website at
http://www.cbc.gov.tw/account/index.html.
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