According to the statistics of Lhasa branch of People's Bank of China, local and foreign currency account balance in all Tibetan financial institutions totaled 205.425 billion yuan (about $33 billion) at the end of 2012. It is increased by 39.175 billion yuan (about $6.3 billion) compared to the beginning of the year with a 23.56 percent growth rate, which is a new historical record.

Local and foreign currency credit balance in all Tibetan financial institutions reached 66.405 billion yuan (about $10.7 billion), with an increase of 25.499 billion yuan (about $4.1 billion) compared to the beginning of the year. The increasing speed of loans in Tibet is much higher than that of its saving deposit and national loans. The highly developed loans provided Tibetan economic development with strong financial support.

Moreover, the credit structure of Tibetan financial institutions has been constantly optimized. As a result, the bank credit capital makes up 0.95 percent of GDP with a 39.75 percent growth than 2011. The credit capital is major invested in fields of capital construction projects, medium and small enterprises, characteristic industries, agricultural and pastoral areas.

Up until now, the number of banking institutions has increased to eight in the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Local Lhasa citizens are handling deposit and withdrawal in a bank. [Photo/Xinhua]