China's central bank said on Tuesday it would inject more than 600 billion yuan ($91.22 billion) to help ease a liquidity squeeze expected before the Lunar New Year in early February. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) will inject the funds via the three policy tools of the standing lending facility (SLF), medium-term lending facility (MLF) and pledged supplementary lending (PSL), it said in a statement on its website.
Liquidity conditions often tighten ahead of the week-long new year holiday and the central bank usually injects large amounts of cash into the banking system prior to the festivities to keep rates steady. The first day of the new year is February 8. Analysts say the PBOC's move could reduce the need for it to cut banks' reserve requirement ratios (RRR) in the near future, but the central bank remains under pressure to ease policy to support a slowing economy.