The Chinese authorities are reducing the volume of lending Chinese state media reported yesterday that the China Banking Regulatory Commission has instructed several major banks not to issue new loans until the end of January due to a sharp rise in lending volumes during the first weeks of the year. Investors fear that tightening monetary policy by the Chinese authorities could slow down economic recovery.

Banks' credit policy lags behind the deposit base Against the backdrop of the crisis, citizens are saving more and more, increasing the volume of deposits. However, this does not yet encourage banks to reduce lending rates and increase their volume. According to the Central Bank, by the end of last year the volume of loans was even declining. Analysts hope that the trend will change in the medium term.

Beltransgaz sent a draft additional agreement to Gazprom Belarus remains committed to maintaining last year's gas price in 2010, even though Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin and Gazprom executives have firmly stated their intention to work within the current contract. This could lead to the fact that by February 23, when Beltransgaz has to pay for January gas, the Russian-Belarusian oil confrontation will develop into an oil and gas confrontation.

German energy industry will not be nuclear-free Today, apparently, will mark the finest hour for the German nuclear lobby. German Chancellor Angela Merkel herself is holding a summit on the directions of energy supply in the future, in which top officials of energy enterprises operating nuclear reactors are invited to participate.

Experts are not confident in the recovery of the domestic car market this year If last year's decline actually halved the Russian car sales market, then this year, according to forecasts by auditing and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the number of cars purchased in the country may increase by 15%. However, against the backdrop of the successes of the domestic market in previous years, these figures look more than modest.

American banks continue to deliver news that can be regarded as good for their shareholders and the financial market, but at the same time clearly unfavorable for politicians. The successes of Wall Street are literally forcing Barack Obama to act tougher and tougher in his declared war against “fat cats.” Meanwhile, having almost recovered from the crisis and paid off their debts to the state, banks are gradually beginning to return to paying large salaries to employees.