The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), the last of the nation's four leading commercial banks to go public, is expecting a cash injection from the Ministry of Finance in preparation for an initial public offering (IPO), said ABC Governor Yang Mingsheng over the weekend.

The cash injection will follow an independent audit by experts from the National Audit Office, the results of which will be released within the year.

Only after the auditing results are released, will the ABC decide how much money it needs for its IPO, Yang added.

The bank is undergoing a financial restructuring, which is a necessary step toward its public listing.

ABC reported a non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 23.44 percent in 2006, 2.73 percent lower than in 2005 but still well above the government-required 5 percent for commercial banks.

Earlier reports predict that Central Huijin Investment Company, an investment company owned by the People's Bank of China, the central bank, will also pump 25 billion to 30 billion U.S. dollars into ABC.

Founded in 2003, the Central Huijin Investment Company in 2005 injected 60 billion U.S. dollars into three of the "big four", namely the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Bank of China. The money came from the nation's huge foreign exchange reserves.

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