Banks in China have accelerated their borrowing of short-term funds, with some, reports Bloomberg, having to pay a 50% overnight rate last week.

The Bloomberg report is gated, but in brief:

  • fears of a cash crunch still loom
  • authorities sought to calm traders after a recent liquidity squeeze
  • onshore lenders doubled their issuance of negotiable certificates of deposit (these are a form of debt with maturities from one to 12 months) this week to more than 1 trillion yuan ($137 billion), the largest weekly issuance of such debt on record