Central Bank of China

PRESS RELEASE Release Date: May 26, 2003




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Financial Conditions (April 2003)

Monetary Aggregates For the month of April 2003, the annual growth rates of the monetary aggregates M1A, M1B and M2, measured on a daily average basis, were 8.50%, 6.04%, and 2.09%, respectively. M1A and M1B growth rates were higher than those in the previous month, while M2 growth rate lower mainly because of the increased investments in bond funds and overseas financial assets by local residents. In addition, the aggregate of M2 plus bond funds held by the general public posted an annual growth rate of 3.60% for the month.

Direct and Indirect Finance At the end of April, the annual growth rate of total loans and investments in major financial institutions, including monetary institutions and the Postal Savings System, rose from "1.82% at the end of the previous month to "1.25% mainly due to the active promotion of the consumer banking business by banks. If loans and investments extended by life insurance companies and investment and trust companies, reclassified non-accrual loans and written-off bad loans by major financial institutions, 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 3.59% for the month.

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Notes: 1. The upcoming Financial Conditions (May 2003) is to be released at 16:20 on June 25, 2003.