Central bank pumps more money into market

BEIJING - China's central bank pumped more money into the market to ease a liquidity strain on Thursday.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) conducted 100 billion yuan ($15.4 billion) of seven-day reverse repurchase agreements (repo), a process in which central banks purchase securities from banks with an agreement to resell them in the future.

The reverse repo was priced to yield 2.25 percent, unchanged from Wednesday's injection of 60 billion yuan, according to a PBOC statement. The injection has resulted in a net 40 billion yuan being pumped into the market Thursday, offset by 60 billion yuan in maturing reverse repos.

The move follows a week-long rise in money-market rates as maturing reverse repos continued to drain liquidity from the market while commercial lenders hoard cash to meet quarter-end regulatory reserves.

In Thursday's interbank market, the benchmark overnight Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate (Shibor), which measures the cost at which Chinese banks lend to one another, climbed by 1.3 basis points to 2.017 percent, the highest level in a month. Shibor for two-week loans rose the most, by 5.8 basis points to 2.788 percent.