China's macro leverage ratio has increased in the first quarter as the country stepped up credit support to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, the country's central bank said Tuesday.

Since 2017, the macro leverage ratio has remained generally stable, with a decline seen in 2018 and a mild increase registered in 2019. But the ratio has climbed notably in Q1 affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC) in an online statement.

The rise in leverage is a result of counter-cyclical policies aimed at supporting the resumption of work by companies, the statement said, adding that the increase is only temporary and will eventually trend down after companies resume operation.

The latest central bank data showed that China's new yuan-denominated loans continued to climb in April, hitting 1.7 trillion yuan (about 240 billion U.S. dollars) last month.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, rose 11.1 percent year on year in April, 1 percentage point higher than that at the end of March and 2.6 percentage points higher from a year ago, showing the effect of monetary policies, the PBOC said.

By the end of April, outstanding social financing, a measurement of funds that individuals and non-financial firms receive from the financial system, increased by 12 percent year on year to the highest level since June 2018, the PBOC data showed.

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