Central bank pumps more money into market

BEIJING - China's central bank on Wednesday pumped more money into the market to ease liquidity ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday on May 30.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) conducted 40 billion yuan ($5.8 billion) of seven-day reverse repos, priced to yield 2.45 percent, unchanged from Tuesday's injection of 80 billion yuan, according to a PBOC statement.

The bank also conducted 50 billion yuan of 14-day reverse repos, priced at 2.6 percent.

The move followed a net injection of 180 billion yuan into the financial system on Monday and Tuesday.

The money market will see 140 billion yuan of reverse repos mature this week.

In Wednesday's interbank market, the benchmark overnight Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate (Shibor), the cost at which Chinese banks lend to one another, declined by 3.1 basis points to 2.623 percent.

China set the tone of its monetary policy in 2017 as prudent and neutral, keeping an appropriate liquidity level but avoiding excessive liquidity injections.