China announces reserve requirement ratio cut

The People's Bank of China (PBOC), China's central bank, Friday announced it would cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 50 basis points for eligible financial institutions from July 15 to support the real economy.

The RRR cut, which will be imposed on all financial institutions except those who have already held the ratio at 5 percent, will likely release 1 trillion yuan (US$154.43 billion) in long-term funds, the PBOC said.

After the reduction, the weighted average reserve requirement ratio for Chinese financial institutions will stand at 8.9 percent, the central bank said.

The central bank added it would continue to implement a prudent monetary policy while keeping the liquidity at a reasonable and ample level to create a suitable monetary and financial environment for China's high-quality development and supply-side structural reform.