Social financing scale (社会融资规模增量) measures the total funds provided by the financial system to the real economy, including RMB loans, foreign currency loans, entrusted loans, trust loans, undiscounted bankers' acceptances, corporate bonds, and equity financing.
Why it matters: This is the PBOC's preferred broad credit metric. It captures both bank and non-bank (shadow banking) credit channels, making it a more comprehensive measure of credit conditions than bank loans alone.