Chinese banks lent 3.18 trillion yuan (408 billion) in 2006, the highest in history, according to a central bank report released on Monday.

The increase is 826.5 billion yuan more than in 2005 and the amount has far exceeded the designated quota of 2.5 trillion yuan for the whole year, which was set at the beginning of 2006, said the report by the People's Bank of China (PBOC). The previous highest was 2.8 trillion yuan in 2003.

The record has been set despite central government efforts to limit the amount of borrowing from its commercial banks.

The central bank has raised the deposit reserve ratio four times in the last year to encourage commercial banks to save more money in the central bank. It also raised the interest rate on loans twice last year.

Source: Xinhua