China tells banks to curb lending

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BEIJING, Nov 19 (Reuters): China has ordered banks to limit their lending until the end of the year as part of efforts to keep investment under control and prevent the world's fourth-largest economy from overheating, sources said Monday.
The authorities routinely clamp down on lending in the final quarter, but banking sources say Beijing has intensified its efforts this year.
Banking and official sources told the news agency that the central bank and banking regulator have been pressing lenders to keep growth in the volume of new loans for all of 2007 within an official 15 per cent guideline, forcing some of them to curb lending sharply in the final months of the year.
However, the sources said the instructions, known as "window guidance," did not amount to a freeze on net new lending.