China credit growth likely slid again in March

China is scheduled to release March monetary data from 10-15 April. China's credit growth has slowed as banks remain cautious about lending given their concerns regarding rising NPLs and as credit demand from corporates remains weak owing to high real interest rates. 

This was probably the case in March as well, with banks facing increased liquidity pressure and incurring high funding costs as more deposits moved to the equity market. 

Standard Chartered expects monthly new loans in the local currency to have fallen to CNY 800bn (weaker than in the same month in previous years) from CNY 1.02tn in February. Expects M2 growth to have slowed to 12% y/y from 12.5% in February on fewer new loans and continued policy intervention.