China's new yuan-denominated lending in June fell to 603.4 billion yuan (US$88.7 billion), down from 639.4 billion yuan in May, the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, said in a statement Sunday.

The June figure brought new loans for the first half to 4.63 trillion yuan, down by 2.74 trillion yuan compared to the same period last year, according to the PBOC statement on its website.

Total outstanding yuan loans stood at 44.61 trillion yuan at the end of June, up 18.2 percent year on year, but dropping 3.3 percentage points from the end of May.

China's broad money supply (M2), which covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 18.5 percent year on year to 67.39 trillion yuan by the end of June, which marked a slowdown from the 21 percent increase at the end of May, the PBOC said.

During the same period, narrow money supply (M1), cash in circulation plus current corporate deposits, climbed 24.6 percent from a year earlier to 24.06 trillion yuan, representing a decrease of 5.3 percentage points from the end of May.

The central bank statement also said yuan deposits increased by 7.63 trillion yuan in the first half, down by 2.35 trillion yuan over the same period last year.

(Xinhua News Agency July 12, 2010)