China to provide 200 billion yuan in loans to commercial banks for housing completions

BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese central bank will provide 200 billion yuan ($27.92 billion) in loans to six commercial banks for housing completions, deputy central bank governor Pan Gongsheng was quoted as saying by state-run Economic Daily on Monday.

Chinese authorities are seeking comments from commercial banks on a concrete operating plan for this policy and will officially introduce it in the near term, Pan said during a joint meeting between the People’s Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The move aims to reduce the risk of property risk spillover, safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of homeowners, support housing demand among first-time buyers and the need to improve current living conditions, Pan was quoted as saying.

Pan added that the overseas branches of major banks should increase their support for onshore guarantees of offshore loans by high-quality property firms.

Last week, Reuters reported that Chinese regulators had outlined 16 measures, including loan repayment extensions, as part of a rescue package aimed at boosting liquidity in the property sector.

($1 = 7.1638 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Ella Cao, Liangping Gao and Twinnie Siu, editing by Louise Heavens and Mark Heinrich)