China's July Leverage Data Comes In Hot, Drawing Rebuke From IMF

It is often difficult to ascertain the actual level of credit and liquidity in China, as the “shadow banking” segment is near $8.5 trillion strong. But China’s Total Social Financing (TSF) data, released Tuesday, attempts to do just that. China’s Leverage data came in hotter than anticipated, a Bernstein report noted. While the number decreased, it was due, in part, to a drop in shadow bank lending. But China’s Leverage  reduction last month is not enough to satisfy the International Monetary Fund, which warned China is on a “dangerous trajectory,” as debt is being used to engineer growth to an unhealthy…