(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-04-05 18:41

The required reserve ratio for financial institutions engaged in deposit business will be raised by 0.5 percentage points as of April 16 to 10.5 percent, said sources with the People's Bank of China on Thursday.

This is the third time for the central bank to raise the deposit reserve ratio this year and the sixth time since last year.

The central bank raised the bank deposit reserve ratio by the same margin of 0.5 percentage points in June, August and November last year and January and February this year.

The move showed the central bank's determination to continue to tighten liquidity management, a major problem threatening China's economy.

To curb the excessive liquidity in China's banking system, the central bank has raised the one-year benchmark interest rates by 0.27 percentage points as of March 18.

The central bank said in a statement released Thursday that it will continue prudent monetary policies, tighten control over bank liquidity to maintain a proper liquidity level and to prevent excessive growth in monetary credit.