China Mulls New Measures to Ease Property Developers' Funding Crunch
• China considering allowing banks to offer unsecured short-term loans to qualified developers for the first time • Loans would be for developers' day-to-day operational purposes and free up capital for debt repayment • China also weighing mechanism for one lender to take lead supporting a distressed builder by coordinating with other creditors • If approved, measures would be China's most forceful attempt yet to plug estimated $446B funding shortfall to stabilize industry • Banks may be exempted from accountability for possible bad loans given high risks; implementation details still in flux