2010-07-26 13:54

The People's Bank of China (PBOC), or the central bank, corrected the statistics for property loans in the first half of this year on its official website, from "a negative growth" to "a positive growth," after the original numbers were questioned by the media, the International Finance News reported on Monday.

The new data shows that loans extended for property development in the first half still saw a positive growth, but the growth rate decreased sharply in the second quarter from the first quarter, the newspaper said.

According to the report released by the central bank on July 23, the new added loans for property development totaled 162.5 billion yuan ($23.98 billion) in the first half, less than the new loans in the first quarter, which stood at 320.7 billion yuan.

The corrected statistics showed that the actual new added property loans in the first half totaled 442.3 billion, which meant the new added loans in the second quarter was only 121.6 billion yuan, down 62 percent from the first quarter.

An economist who declined to reveal his name told the newspaper that the slowing growth in property loans was due to the country's policies aimed at curbing the overheated property market. Transaction home prices began to decline after trading volume shrank in first-tier cities. Moreover, as the government continues increasing the provision of affordable housing, property prices will be further contained.