Briefly

Reserve requirement ratio cut announced

China's central bank said on Friday it will cut the reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions by 0.25 percentage point from March 27 to keep liquidity reasonably ample and better serve the real economy. The cut will not apply to financial institutions that have already implemented a 5-percent RRR, the People's Bank of China said in a statement. After the reduction, the weighted average RRR for financial institutions will reach around 7.6 percent, according to the statement.

Builders told to make BRI contributions

Zhou Kan, charge d'Affaires ad interim and minister of the Chinese Embassy in Indonesia, told Chinese State builders to contribute more to building infrastructure for the Belt and Road Initiative. While meeting in Jakarta with Chen Yun, Party secretary and chairman of China Railway Group Ltd (CREC), Zhou lauded its achievement in helping build the 142.3-kilometer Jakarta-Bandung High-speed Railway — a signature link of the BRI. Chen toured the Tegal Luar station built by CREC4 (China Railway No 4 Engineering Group Co Ltd) and some working areas. The HSR is expected to operate this year, slashing the current travel time from three hours to 40 minutes.

Reverse repos boost liquidity

China's central bank continued to inject funds into the financial system through open market operations on Friday. The People's Bank of China said on its website that it has conducted 180 billion yuan ($26.19 billion) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2 percent. The move is aimed at keeping liquidity reasonable and ample in the banking system, according to the central bank.

PBOC to issue 5b yuan of bills in HK

China's central bank plans to issue 5 billion yuan ($727 million) worth of bills in Hong Kong on Tuesday. The central bank bills will be issued with a maturity of six months, or 182 days, the People's Bank of China said in a statement. The move aims to enrich yuan-denominated investment products with high credit ratings in Hong Kong and improve the yield curve of the yuan in the region, the central bank said.

Natural gas output up 6.7% in Jan, Feb

China's natural gas output logged steady growth in the first two months of 2023, data from the National Bureau of Statistics show. The country produced 39.8 billion cubic meters of natural gas in the period, up 6.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the bureau. The growth rate was 0.2 percentage points higher than that of December 2022, the bureau said. China's crude oil output rose 1.8 percent year-on-year to 34.17 million metric tons during the same period, the data also showed.

Xinhua - China Daily