SteelOrbis Shanghai
The People's Bank of China (central bank) issued an announcement on March 18 to the effect that it will raise the deposit reserve ratio by half a percentage point as of March 25, 2008. This is the second time this year that China's central bank has increased the deposit reserve ratio, and is the twelfth time since 2007 that it has made an adjustment to this tool of monetary policy.
Following the adjustment, the commercial banks will execute a deposit reserve standard rate of 15.5 percent, again constituting an historical high.
According to the central bank, this latest hike is aimed at the implementation of a stringent monetary policy, at the continuous strengthening of liquidity control at the banks, and at the guidance of reasonable credit growth.