The Chinese central bank's policy arsenal
BEIJING, Aug 30 (Reuters) -The People's Bank of China (PBOC) aims to create a more market-driven interest rate curve and move away from quantitative policy tools to help wean the economy off state-directed bank lending.
Here is a rundown of its key interest rates and policy tools.
INTEREST RATES
* Reverse repo rates – at which the PBOC purchases government bonds from commercial banks in open market operations, with an agreement to sell them back in the future, thereby providing banks with short-term liquidity. On July 22, the PBOC cut the seven-day reverse repo rate CN7DRRP=PBOC by 10 basis points (bps) to 1.7% and has kept it steady since.
This rate has become the PBOC's main policy rate. The central bank uses an interest rate corridor made of temporary overnight repos and reverse repos to guide interbank rates to fluctuate around the benchmark.
* Loan prime rates (LPR) - the benchmark lending rates that are based on quotes from 20 commercial banks. The PBOC has pledged to improve the quality of the LPR to better reflect actual borrowing costs.
On July 22, the PBOC cut the one-year LPR CNYLPR1Y=CFXS, linked to regular consumer loans, by 10 bps to 3.35% and cut five-year rate CNYLPR5Y=, linked to mortgages, by the same margin to 3.85%.
* Medium-term lending facility (MLF) rate was the previous benchmark policy rate. It is the rate at which banks can borrow from the PBOC for one year. The one-year rate CNMLF1YRRP=PBOC stands at 2.3%.
At the end of June, outstanding funding through MLF stood at 7.07 trillion yuan ($994.6 billion) - approximately 5.6% of GDP.
* Standing loan facility (SLF) rate - for short-term loans to commercial banks. Use of the SLF is low. The seven-day SLF rate is at 2.7%.
* Interest rate on excess reserves – which banks receive for depositing surplus cash at the central bank. It stands at 0.35%.
QUANTITATIVE TOOLS
* Reserve Requirement Ratio (RRR) - the amount of cash banks need to keep as reserves with the central bank.
The PBOC has cut the weighted average RRR from nearly 15% in 2018 to around 7%, pumping more than 12 trillion yuan into the economy.
* Open market operations (OMO) - the PBOC mainly conducts OMO via short-term repo and reverse repo operations to manage market liquidity.
* Structural tools - the PBOC has in recent years expanded its basket of structural policy tools, including relending facilities and other low-cost loans, as it seeks to provide long-term support for some key sectors, including tech innovation, carbon reduction and affordable housing.
For example, the Pledged Supplementary Lending (PSL) facility, launched in 2014, provides long-term funding for government infrastructure and urban redevelopment - a form of property market support.
In May, the PBOC launched a 300 billion yuan relending programme to facilitate up to 500 billion yuan in funding for state-owned firms to buy empty apartments and turn them into affordable housing.
Outstanding structural monetary policy tools stood at 7.03 trillion yuan at the end of June, including 2.82 trillion through the PSL.
($1 = 7.1086 Chinese yuan)
ANALYSIS-China's interest rate reform will be 'arduous, long' process nL8N3KF028
Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Marius Zaharia and Jacqueline Wong
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.