China's central bank drains money from market

BEIJING - China's central bank drained money from the market this week due to easing liquidity strain.

From Monday through Friday, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) pumped 375 billion yuan ($56.47 billion) into the money market via seven-day reverse repos, a process by which central banks purchase securities from banks with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

Taking into account reverse repos that have matured, the central bank effectively withdrew 235 billion yuan.

China's liquidity tightening has been greatly eased. The benchmark overnight Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate, known as Shibor, witnessed a week-long losing streak.

On Friday's interbank market, Shibor stood at 2.002 percent, much lower than 2.038 percent, the highest in a month, seen on July 27.

The PBOC adopted various open market operations to regulate liquidity in the market this year, including standing and medium-term lending facility and pledged supplementary lending, a PBOC statement said Monday.