Bank of China to lend over $146 billion in 2009

BEIJING, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Bank of China aims to lend more than twice as much this year as in 2008, the top executive of the country's biggest foreign exchange lender said on Wednesday.

Xiao Gang, chairman of Bank of China (601988.SS) (3988.HK), said the lender would extend over 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) in loans in 2009, up from 386 billion yuan last year.

Speaking briefly to reporters on the sidelines of a conference, Xiao said he expected lending this quarter to be "relatively stable" after an abrupt drop in September.

The bank lent just 3 billion yuan in September, down from 72.2 billion yuan in August.

Industry-wide lending would slow next year but new loans would remain at a reasonable level, Li Lihui, the bank's president, said last month. [ID:nPEK91404]

China's banks extended 8.92 trillion yuan in loans in the first 10 months, the central bank said on Wednesday, leaving them on course to lend nearly 10 trillion in all of 2009, equivalent to a third of China's annual output. [ID:nBJB003561] ($=6.83 yuan) (Reporting by Michael Wei and Alan Wheatley; Editing by Ken Wills)