China's central bank skips open market operations for 12th straight day

BEIJING - China's central bank on Tuesday again skipped open market operations of reverse repos, siphoning liquidity from the market.

This was the 12th consecutive trading day that the People's Bank of China halted the open market operations of reverse repos, a process where it purchases securities from commercial banks with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

"Although general liquidity level in the banking system fell slightly because of factors such as the looming tax payments, it is still at a relatively high level," the PBOC said in a statement.

The move meant a net cash withdraw of 20 billion yuan ($2.9 billion) from the market as previous reverse repos matured on Tuesday. The 12-day suspension has led to a total of 450 billion yuan being drained from the banking system.

Skipping reverse repo operations, part of the PBOC's efforts to deleverage, indicated the central bank has the confidence and capability to keep market liquidity at a stable level, said Wen Bin, a researcher with China Minsheng Bank.

Wen expects the PBOC to continue the use of open market operations in liquidity management, while leaving the benchmark interest rates unchanged this year.

China has vowed to pursue a prudent and neutral monetary policy this year, promising better adjustments to ensure stable liquidity.