The report said the growth of cash in circulation (M2) and the narrowest measure of money supply (M1) was about 10 percentage points higher than the growth of gross domestic product and the consumer prices combined, indicating that money supply growth was high.

It said that financial operation in the first half year featured fast growth of money supply, loans, deposits and foreign exchange reserves.

Statistics show that by the end of last June, the outstanding broad money was 20.5 trillion yuan (about US$2.48 trillion), up 20.8 percent from the same period last year, whereas narrow money was 7.6 trillion yuan, up 20.2 percent.

Money in circulation was 1.7 trillion yuan, up 12.3 percent.

In the first half of this year, the outstanding amount of loanswas 15.9 trillion yuan, up 22.9 percent from the same period last year, while deposits were 20.7 trillion yuan, up 21.9 percent, of which corporate deposits were 6.7 trillion yuan, up 24.6 percent, and savings deposits were 9.8 trillion yuan, up 19.5 percent.

In the first six months of the year China's foreign exchange reserves increased US$60.1 billion to US$346.5 billion.

(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2003)