Central bank relaunches funding tool

PBOC adds 108.2 b yuan into Pledged Supplemental Lending for major projects

China's central bank has relaunched a funding tool for policy banks to support infrastructure investment as part of the nation's accelerated efforts to ensure stable economic performance in the fourth quarter, experts said on Monday.

They commented after the People's Bank of China said on Saturday it added a net 108.2 billion yuan ($15.2 billion) last month in Pledged Supplemental Lending — a tool to provide development and policy banks with low-cost and long-term funding — marking the first PSL increase since February 2020.

With the increase in September bringing the outstanding value of the PSL to 2.65 trillion yuan, the number may further grow as the nation counts lending from policy banks as a key pillar for growth stabilization, the experts said.