Jan new loans 4.92 trln yuan vs f39;cast 4.50 trln yuan
Jan M2 money supply 8.7 yy, vs f39;cast of 9.3
Jan TSF 6.5 trln yuan, vs f39;cast 5.55 trln yuan
C.bank pledges to keep up support for economy

BEIJING, Feb 9 Reuters New bank loans in China jumped by more than expected to an alltime high in January, as the central bank moved to shore up the sputtering economy, reinforcing expectations for more stimulus in the coming months.

Policymakers have pledged to roll out further measures to support the weakerthanexpected postCOVID recovery in the world39;s secondlargest economy, amid a deep property crisis and prolonged stock market rout.

Chinese lenders tend to frontload loans at the beginning of the year to get higherquality customers and win market share.

Banks extended 4.92 trillion yuan 683.7 billion in new yuan loans in January, hitting a record high, up sharply from December and beating analysts39; expectations, data from the People39;s Bank of China PBOC showed on Friday.

January lending more than quadrupled from December39;s 1.17 trillion and exceeded the previous record of 4.9 trillion yuan in the same month a year earlier.

Analysts polled by Reuters had predicted new yuan loans would rise to 4.50 trillion yuan in January.

January bank lending is stronger than expected, which will support the real economy, said Luo Yunfeng, an economist at Huajin Securities.

Going forward, monetary policy is likely to be loosened marginally, Luo said.

Chinese banks…