4月金融数据点评：政府债拉动社融增速提升，低基数下M2增速明显向上

Investment Rating - The report maintains a "Positive" investment rating for the banking industry in China [6]. Core Viewpoints - The current phase is characterized by a concentrated rollout of stable growth policies, with expansive monetary policy leading the way, followed by fiscal measures. The acceleration of local government debt issuance is expected to have a profound impact on the banking sector's fundamentals in 2025. Enhanced fiscal policy is anticipated to support social financing and boost economic expectations, benefiting cyclical sectors. Although the broad interest rate environment is expected to exert short-term pressure on banks' net interest margins, the concentration of high-interest deposits entering a repricing cycle, along with ongoing regulatory measures against high-interest deposit solicitation, will provide significant support for banks' interest margins in 2025. This year is also projected to be crucial for solidifying banks' asset quality, with policy support likely to improve risk expectations in real estate and urban investment properties, and certain personal loan products that have adequately addressed risk exposure and disposal may see a turning point in asset quality [3][28]. Summary by Sections Social Financing Growth - In April 2025, social financing grew by 8.7% year-on-year, with a month-on-month increase of 0.3 percentage points, amounting to an increase of 1.16 trillion yuan, which is 1.22 trillion yuan more than the previous year. The main contributors to this growth were government bonds, which increased by 1.0699 trillion yuan, and corporate direct financing, which rose by 83.9 billion yuan [9][12][13]. Loan Growth Trends - The loan growth rate in April 2025 was 7.2% year-on-year, reflecting a month-on-month decline of 0.2 percentage points. The total new RMB loans amounted to 280 billion yuan, which is 450 billion yuan less than the previous year. The demand for loans from households is still expected to take time to improve, with short-term loans decreasing by 50.1 billion yuan year-on-year [19][20]. M2 Growth Dynamics - In April 2025, M2 grew by 8.0% year-on-year, with a month-on-month increase of 1 percentage point. The significant rise in M2 is attributed to a low base effect from the previous year, while M1 growth remained stagnant. The total new RMB deposits decreased by 440 billion yuan, with household and corporate deposits dropping by 460 billion yuan and 542.8 billion yuan, respectively [22][24]. Investment Recommendations - The report suggests focusing on two main investment lines: 1. High dividend and core index-weighted banks, including Agricultural Bank of China (601288), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398), China Merchants Bank (600036), and Industrial Bank (601166) [10][29]. 2. Regional banks with strong fundamentals, such as Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank (601077), Chongqing Bank (601963), Jiangsu Bank (600919), Qingdao Bank (002948), and Shanghai Bank (601229) [10][29].