Ningxia banks made 15.4 billion yuan of new loans in the first quarter of 2011, accounting for 7.2 percent of the nation's total loans, according to data released by the Ningxia branch of the People's Bank of China.

New loans totaled 5.3 billion yuan in January, 3.8 billion yuan in February and 6.4 billion yuan in March. About 9.1 billion yuan went to corporations, while the remaining went to individuals, who used the loans for farming, housing and private business.

Provincial bank loans increased 19.6 percent from a year earlier, but growth has slowed by 4.2 percentage points compared with the end of last year. Nationwide, loans were up 22.7 percent over the same period last year, 2.9 percentage points lower than at the end of last year.

Meanwhile, new savings made during the first quarter in the province decreased 4.3 billion yuan from last year to 12.5 billion yuan.