China cenbank conducts medium-term loan operation, rate unchanged

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s central bank conducted a medium-term loan operation on Friday and left the interest rate unchanged.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) lent 200 billion yuan ($27.46 billion) worth of one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans to some financial institutions at 2.00%, unchanged from the previous rate, according to an online statement from the bank.

The loan operation was meant to “keep banking system liquidity reasonably ample”, the PBOC said in the statement.

The bid rates in Friday’s operation ranged from 1.80% to 2.20%, the central bank said.

A batch of 995 billion yuan worth of MLF loans was due to expire this month.

($1 = 7.2825 Chinese yuan)