China’s total social financing (TSF), a broad measure of credit and liquidity in the economy, grew by a net 1.36 trillion yuan ($200 billion) in April, below analysts' expectations and substantially lower than a net increase of 2.86 trillion yuan the month before, central bank data showed Thursday.

TSF includes financing that exists outside the conventional bank lending system like initial public offerings and bond sales. The median forecast of analysts polled by Bloomberg had been 1.65 trillion yuan TSF growth in April.

In April, banks made 1.02 trillion yuan in net new yuan loans, central bank data showed, also missing forecasts and down from 1.69 trillion yuan in March.

China’s outstanding M2, a broader measure of the money supply that covers all cash in circulation plus deposits, grew 8.5% year-on-year at the end of April, slipping from 8.6% growth a month earlier, the data show.

Check caixinglobal.com throughout the day for further analysis on the newly released data.