(13 March 2020 – China) China’s central bank has launched a $79bn stimulus effort to help the country’s coronavirus-stricken companies on the same day other Asia-Pacific central banks looked to shore up crisis-hit markets and economies.
The People’s Bank of China late on Friday cut reserve requirements for banks, a move that will free up an additional Rmb550bn ($78.8bn) in funds that the authorities want banks to lend to companies hit by the coronavirus outbreak.
The PBoC, which lowered the reserve requirement ratio by 0.5-1 percentage points, said it was a “financially inclusive” cut to the amount of cash banks are supposed to hold in reserve, signalling the new funds should be directed at smaller businesses that struggle to access bank lending.