China’s central bank made an unexpected Rmb200bn ($28bn) injection into the banking system on Wednesday, highlighting policymakers’ concerns over liquidity levels as economic growth falls to a 30-year low.
Policymakers have worried that liquidity constraints over the past year have made banks less willing to lend to companies at a time when the Sino-US trade dispute is also proving a drag on economic activity.
“It suggests that the [People’s Bank of China] feels the interbank market needs more liquidity,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics. “Whether or not the goal is to push down interbank rates or simply to keep them broadly stable is unclear at this stage.”