China's new bank lending hits 633.9 billion yuan

China's new bank lending rebounded to 633.9 billion yuan (97.52 billion U.S. dollars) in June from May's 551.6 billion yuan, the People's Bank of China said on Tuesday. The June figure was also 20.7 billion yuan more than that of last June, the central bank said. By the end of June, the broad money supply (M2), which covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 15.9 percent year-on-year to 78.08 trillion yuan. The pace of increase accelerated from May's 15.1-percent growth but was 3.8 percentage points lower than that of last June. In the first half of this year, the country's financial institutions granted 4.17 trillion yuan in yuan-denominated loans, 449.7 billion yuan less than the same period of last year, it said. The central bank raised benchmark interest rates for the third time this year ahead of a report that showed the country's inflation hit a three-year high in June.