Statistics show that the accumulative total increase of residents' savings deposits came to 671.7 billion yuan in the first five months, an increase of 262.8 billion yuan over the same period of the previous year. Of which, fixed term deposits rose 414.3 billion yuan, 136.5 billion yuan more than that in the same period last year, current deposits surged 257.4 billion yuan, up by 126.3 billion yuan over the same period of the previous year.

At the end of May, the balance of the supply of broad money (M2) reached 16.6 trillion yuan, up 14 percent over the same period of the previous year, maintaining a stable rate of growth. The balance of narrow money (M1) came to 6.12 trillion yuan, a 14.5 percent year-on-year increase., with an obviously faster growth rate, 1.8 percentage points higher than that at the end of the previous year. May saw a big increase of M1 by 78.6 billion yuan. The liquidity of currency (M1/M2) at the end of May stood at 36.9 percent, a 0.8 percentage point higher than that in the same period of the previous year, the year-on-year surge of the liquidity of money was the first since September 2001. At the end of May, the balance of money in circulation (M0) came to 1.52 trillion yuan, a 9.3 percent year-on-year rise, with the growth rate standing at 2.2 percentage points higher than that at the end of the previous year. The supply of cash was normal.

Enterprises' savings deposits saw an obvious rise. At the end of May, the balance of various items of deposits in all financial institutions (including foreign-funded ones) amounted to 15.33 trillion yuan, up 17.4 percent, with a year-on-year increase of 3.7 percentage points. Of which, the balance of enterprise deposits at the end of the month ran to 5.15 trillion yuan, up 14.1 percent, or 3.4 percentage points higher than that of the previous month. In May, enterprise deposits went up 76.6 billion yuan, which was an increase of 141.2 billion yuan over the same period of the previous year, with the annual accumulative total increase of 97.9 billion yuan, an increase of 22.6 billion yuan over the same period of the previous year.

Loans of financial institutions continue to increase. At the end of May, the balance of various items of loans of all financial institutions (including foreign-funded ones) ran to 11.83 billion yuan, up 11.4 percent calculated on a comparable basis, with the growth rate remaining basically stable. The accumulative total loans in the first five months of this year ran to 537 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.3 billion yuan.

Basic money continues to maintain a rapid rate of growth, the exchange rate of the Renminbi (People's Currency) remains stable. At the end of May, the balance of basic money of the central bank stood at 4.02 trillion yuan, up by 19.4 percent, continuing to maintain a rapid rate of growth. At the end of May, the exchange rate of US dollar to the Renminbi was 1:8.2766, equal to that at the end of the previous year.

(People's Daily June 13, 2002)