Economy

China raises bank reserve requirement ratio

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-18 19:14

BEIJING - The People's Bank of China (PBOC), China's central bank, announced Friday to raise the bank reserve requirement ratio by 50 basis points from March 25.

The hike, the third this year and the ninth since the beginning of last year, is the latest move to soak up liquidity to check inflation.

After the hike, major banks will have to set aside 20 percent of their reserves and small and medium-sized banks will have to keep 16.5 percent of their deposits in reserve.

China's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, rose 4.9 percent in February, the same as January's.