Bank Deposits Dip on Stream of Holiday Spending

(Beijing) – An outpouring of cash from bank deposits into red envelopes and other holiday gifts began at the start of the month ahead of the Chinese New Year Holiday, say China’s major commercial banks.

Sources close to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China told Caixin that during the past half month, ICBC saw cash deposits decline by hundreds of billion of yuan, resulting in tight liquidity. But the source said that big fluctuations are common for banks in the beginning of the year. In 2011, ICBC received a total of 1.3 trillion yuan in deposits, the highest among China's major commercial banks.