China’s Central Bank Injects Record Funds to Ease Cash Crunch

China’s central bank added a record 290 billion yuan ($46 billion) to the financial system using reverse-repurchase agreements, seeking to address a cash squeeze in the run-up to a weeklong holiday.

The People’s Bank of China conducted 190 billion yuan of 28-day reverse repos and offered 100 billion yuan of 14-day contracts, according to a trader at a primary dealer required to bid at the auctions. Today’s total is the highest for a single day in Bloomberg data going back to 2004.

The Chinese flag flies outside the headquarters of the People’s Bank of China in Beijing.

“Record amounts of reverse repos are to meet the surge in cash demand before the quarter-end and the holidays,” said Liu Junyu, a bond analyst in Shenzhen at China Merchants Bank Co., the nation’s sixth-biggest lender. “As the central bank steps up adding funds through reverse repos, it’s unlikely to cut the reserve ratio this month.”

The seven-day repurchase rate, which measures interbank funding availability, gained 22 basis points to 4.73 percent as of 11:07 a.m. in Shanghai, the highest level since June 28, according to a weighted average compiled by the National Interbank Funding Center.

The central bank kept the yields on 28- and 14-day reverse repos unchanged at 3.6 percent and 3.45 percent, respectively, the trader said. China’s financial markets will be shut from Oct. 1 to Oct. 5 for the National day and mid-autumn holidays.

Via – Bloomberg

Content is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.