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Chinese banks see first NIM quarterly rise since 2022
Net interest margin edged up to 1.41% in the June quarter, even as loan demand stayed weak and analysts flagged pressure on balance-sheet growth later this year.
Chinese commercial banks reported a first quarterly increase in net interest margin since 2022, according to data released by China’s National Financial Regulatory Administration.
The average NIM for commercial banks rose 0.01 percentage point to 1.41% in the June quarter, up from 1.40% in the first quarter, with gains across state-owned lenders, city commercial banks, rural commercial banks, and private banks.
Joint-stock banks were unchanged, while margins at foreign banks narrowed further. Despite that, underlying loan demand remained weak.
Separate data showed total social financing increased by 1.4 trillion yuan in July, helped by faster government and corporate bond issuance, analysts said. Deutsche Bank’s Johnny Xie cautioned that weak loan demand could weigh on banks’ balance sheet expansion, asset yields, and NIM in the second half, SCMP Economy reported.