China central bank skips open market operations for 14th consecutive working day

BEIJING - China's central bank suspended open market operations for the 14th working day Monday to maintain stable liquidity in the banking system.

The liquidity in the banking system was at a "moderate" level, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC) on its website.

The central bank has injected nearly 2 trillion yuan ($320 billion) into the monetary market through Contingent Reserve Arrangement to meet rising cash demand ahead of the Spring Festival holiday.

It also allowed around 450 billion yuan by lowering deposit reserve requirements for inclusive finance, 398 billion yuan through medium-term lending facilities, and 126 billion yuan via pledged supplementary lending.

The overnight Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate (Shibor), which measures the cost at which banks lend to one another, dropped 2.3 basis points to 2.6 percent on Monday.

The central bank has increasingly relied on open market operations for liquidity management, rather than cuts to interest rates or reserve requirement ratios, ensuring cash fluctuations do not exceed expectations.

China will maintain a prudent and neutral monetary policy in 2018 as it strives to balance growth with risk prevention.