The People's Bank of China (PBOC) continued to inject liquidity into the money market through reverse repos Thursday with rates unchanged despite a US interest rate hike overnight.
It conducted 120 billion yuan ($17.4 billion) of 7-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2.55 per cent and 30 billion yuan of 14-day reverse repos at 2.7 per cent, unchanged from previous operations.
The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised short-term interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, but signalled a slower pace of rate hikes next year as the US economy is expected to cool down.
The central bank said in a statement that Thursday's operations are aimed at offsetting the impact of factors such as government bond issuance and maintaining reasonable and sufficient liquidity in the banking system.
The injection followed 60 billion yuan of reverse repos conducted Wednesday, reports Xinhua.
The PBOC has pumped funds into the market for four consecutive days so far this week, after a suspension of reverse repos that lasted for a record 36 straight trading days.
Through reverse repos, the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.