BEIJING, March 10 -- China's new yuan-denominated loans totaled 1.81 trillion yuan (about 259.85 billion U.S. dollars) in February, central bank data showed Friday.

The figure increased by 592.8 billion yuan from the same period last year, according to the People's Bank of China.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 12.9 percent year on year to 275.52 trillion yuan at the end of last month.

The growth rate was 0.3 percentage points higher than the figure seen at the end of January, and was 3.7 percentage points higher than that in the same period last year.

The M1, which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, stood at 65.79 trillion yuan at the end of February, up 5.8 percent year on year.

The M0, the amount of cash in circulation, expanded 10.6 percent from a year ago to 10.76 trillion yuan at the end of last month.

In February, the central bank withdrew a total of 699.9 billion yuan of net cash from the market.

Newly added social financing, a measure of funds that individuals and non-financial firms receive from the financial system, came in at 3.16 trillion yuan last month, an increase of 1.95 trillion yuan from the same period last year.

By the end of February, total outstanding yuan deposits stood at 268.2 trillion yuan, up 12.4 percent year on year.