China's central bank continued to inject funds into the market on Wednesday to maintain liquidity.
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) conducted 150 billion yuan (about 21.6 billion US dollars) worth of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2.55 percent, unchanged from the previous operations.
The move aimed to offset the impact of factors including tax payments and government bond issuance and keep liquidity in the banking system at a reasonable and ample level, according to a PBOC statement.
A reverse repo is a process by which the central bank bids and buys securities from commercial banks with an agreement to sell them back in the future.
The PBOC has pumped funds for four consecutive days since last Friday. The bank injected 120 billion yuan into the market on Monday and Tuesday respectively. Up to now, the total funds reached 420 billion yuan.
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China will continue to implement a prudent and neutral monetary policy and properly deal with the relationship between stabilizing growth, deleveraging and strengthening regulatory control.
Boosting small businesses
Meanwhile, the central bank steps up efforts to support small businesses. The relending and rediscount quotas for private firms and small and micro-sized firms are increased by 150 billion yuan, according to a statement on Monday.
The country will fully leverage the bond financing tools for private firms, creating an enabling financing environment, said Yi Gang, China's central bank governor on Wednesday.