China central bank injects $112.8 billion in October via policy tools

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s central bank injected a total of 763.71 billion yuan ($112.8 billion) via short- and medium-term liquidity tools in October, its data showed on Tuesday, as it seeks to support credit expansion and the economy.

October liquidity injections were up from 275.55 billion yuan in September, the central bank’s data showed.

The People’s Bank of China said in a statement on its website that it lent 763 billion yuan to financial institutions via its medium-term lending facility (MLF) in October.

The central bank lent 451.5 bln yuan for six months and 311.5 bln yuan for a year.

Outstanding MLF was 2.11 trillion yuan at the end of October compared with 1.91 trillion yuan at the end of September, implying a net injection of 205.5 billion yuan.

The central bank also extended 712 million yuan of loans to local financial institutions in October via its standing lending facility (SLF), it said.

The total outstanding amount of SLF loans was 500 million yuan at the end of October, compared with 400 million yuan at the end of September, implying a net injection of 100 million yuan.

The combined net injections via MLF and SLF climbed to 205.6 billion yuan last month from 152.2 billion yuan in September, the data showed.

The central bank uses the SLF and the medium-term lending facility as tools for managing short- and medium-term liquidity in the country’s banking system.

In October, the central bank made a net 51.1 billion yuan in loans to three policy banks via its pledged supplementary lending (PSL) facility, it said.

(Reporting by China Monitoring Desk and Kevin Yao; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)