Several figures published by the People’s Bank of China indicate the country will experience somewhat tighter financial conditions going into the Chinese new year.

In January, bank loans surged to a record high of 2.9 trillion yuan ($460 billion), reflecting seasonal demand and a shift from shadow bank credit back to more traditional forms of financing. But at the same time, year-on-year total social financing (TSF), the PBoC’s measure of broad credit in the economy, has fallen to a multi-year