BEIJING, April 11  -- China's new yuan-denominated loans hit a record high of 10.6 trillion yuan (about 1.54 trillion U.S. dollars) during the first quarter of the year, up 2.27 trillion yuan from a year ago, central bank data showed Tuesday.

In March, new yuan-denominated loans totaled 3.89 trillion yuan. The figure showed an increase of 749.7 billion yuan from the same period last year, and edged up from 1.81 trillion yuan in February, according to the People's Bank of China.

Due to the recovery of credit demand and pro-growth measures adopted by local governments, China's new yuan loans in March continued to expand on the basis of last year's high base, said Wen Bin, the chief economist of China Minsheng Bank.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 12.7 percent year on year to 281.46 trillion yuan at the end of last month.

The growth rate was 0.2 percentage points lower than the figure seen at the end of February and was 3 percentage points higher than that for the same period last year.

The M1, which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, stood at 67.81 trillion yuan at the end of March, up 5.1 percent year on year.

The M0, the amount of cash in circulation, expanded 11 percent from a year ago to 10.56 trillion yuan at the end of last month.

Newly added social financing, a measurement of funds that individuals and non-financial firms receive from the financial system, came in at 14.53 trillion yuan during the first quarter, marking an increase of 2.47 trillion yuan from the same period last year.

In the first quarter, total yuan deposits increased by 15.39 trillion yuan, up 4.54 trillion yuan from a year ago.

"Liquidity is expected to remain reasonably sufficient and credit expansion will be strong throughout the year, thereby creating a sound financial environment for steady economic performance and sustained overall improvement," Wen said.