PBOC governor says "some room" exists for cutting reserve requirement ratio

Governor of the People's Bank of CHINA Yi gang attends a press conference on the financial reform and development for the second session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of CHINA, March 10, 2019. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

BEIJING, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese central bank governor said Sunday that there is still some room for lowering the country's reserve requirement ratio.

The overall reserve requirement ratio now stands at around 12 percent, a similar level as some developed countries, Yi gang, governor of the People's Bank of CHINA (PBOC), told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative session.

Since the beginning of 2018, CHINA has lowered the reserve requirement ratio by a total of 3.5 percentage points in five cuts, he said.

CHINA will reform and refine monetary and credit supply mechanisms, and employ a combination of quantitative and pricing approaches, like required reserve ratios and interest rates, to guide financial institutions in increasing credit supply and bringing down the cost of borrowing, according to a government work report delivered on Tuesday.