ECON China's total debt reaches 282% of its GDP: McKinsey

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China's total debt reaches 282% of its GDP: McKinsey
By Bloomberg | 9 May, 2015, 12.49PM IST

BEIJING: China's debt mountain is casting a shadow over the world's second-largest economy.

Total debt has reached 282 per cent of GDP, according to the McKinsey Global Institute. While other big economies aren't far behind, it's the pace of China's credit expansion that's worrying policy makers, spurring targeted stimulus strikes while trying to avoid a debt sugar hit.

Here's how the debt breaks down, according to McKinsey: Central government debt is low by global standards, giving room for fiscal stimulus if the economic downturn deepens. Local authorities are in a more delicate position, having borrowed heavily via vehicles after the global financial crisis and now grappling with repayments.

While bank debt doesn't flash red alert yet, rising bad loans signal more pain to come. For non-financials, especially real estate developers, the burden is greater, raising question marks over whether monetary policy loosening will spur a pickup in loan demand among already tapped out corporates.Last month, Baoding Tianwei Group, a power-equipment maker became China's first state-owned enterprise to default on domestic debt.

Now on to the good news: households. China's famously frugal citizens have plenty of scope to take on more credit, spurring hopes consumption can help plug a growth gap that's widening amid the slowdown in investment.

As for who dished out the loans, an estimated 30 per cent comes from the shadow banking system -a lending channel policy makers are trying to rein in due to concerns over transparency.Then there's foreign lending, which could come back to bite if the currency weakens. Even after a slight decrease in the fourth quarter of 2014, outstanding claims on China totaled $1 trillion at the end of 2014, well ahead of $308 billion for Brazil and $196 billion for India There are signs that credit has peaked, with Standard Chartered estimating China's debt-to-GDP ratio is stabilising.
 

Knoxville's Joker

Has No Life - Lives on TB
The translation here: Check your investment vehicles. Make sure there are no chinese banks or international banks that have considerable loans to China. Once this hits our stock market will take another hit.
 

Sleeping Cobra

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China cuts interest rates for third time since Nov as economy sputters

Sunday, 10 May 2015 | 5:57 AM ET

China's central bank cut its benchmark lending rate by 25 basis points to 5.1 percent on Sunday, its third reduction since November, as economic growth cools to levels not seen since the global financial crisis.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) also reduced one-year benchmark deposit rates by 25 basis points to 2.25 percent, it said in a statement on its website, adding that the reductions would be effective on May 11.

The central bank said the move would support the healthy development of the economy.

Economists had said it was not a matter of if, but when China eased policy again after economic growth in the first quarter cooled to 7 percent, the slowest pace since 2009.

Initial indicators and industry surveys for April released over the last few weeks had pointed to a further loss of momentum heading into the second quarter.

"Currently, the pace of domestic economic restructuring is quickening and the fluctuation of external demand is relatively big. China's economy is still facing relatively big downward pressure," the central bank said.

Liquidity in the banking system is generally adequate and market interest rates are falling, providing a good window to open up the upper limit for deposit rates, it said.

The central bank has now cut interest rates and relaxed banks' reserve requirements five times in six months, and many economists expect more easing measures over the course of the year as the world's second-largest economy is weighed down by a weak property market and slackening growth in manufacturing and investment.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102665333
 
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