Citigroup Securities: Banks smooth out credit pace, concentrated foreign exchange settlement boosts M2.

China Securities Research Report believes that in terms of social financing, the growth rate of social financing in January slightly fell back, possibly because banks actively smoothed out the pace of credit and reduced the credit targets at the beginning of the year. The government continues to take the lead in boosting the economy, and government bonds provide support for social financing, with a relatively high proportion of special bonds used for project investment. Corporate bonds and non-standard financing remain stable, while overseas loans have shown some improvement. In terms of credit, short-term and medium and long-term loans to enterprises have remained stable at a high base, speculating that in the context of the beginning of the "14th Five-Year Plan", credit support for major projects such as infrastructure has been realized. Bill discounts have significantly decreased, which also indirectly proves that the slight increase in loans in January may be a result of banks actively adjusting. Household loans have shown marginal improvement due to a rebound in real estate transactions. In terms of deposits, M2 growth rate has significantly risen, with China Securities believing that the increase is due to enterprises concentrating on conversion of foreign currency to raise RMB deposits. Structurally, the mismatch of the Spring Festival has led to a greater year-on-year increase in corporate loans and a smaller year-on-year increase in household loans; the year-on-year increase in non-bank loans indicates that the trend of deposits "moving" is continuing.