The People's Bank of China (PBOC) on Wednesday said it injected 290.57 billion yuan ($44.1 billion) into the financial markets through short- and medium-term liquidity facilities in May to help support credit growth and the slowing economy.
That amount of liquidity injections was down from 715.76 billion yuan in April.
The central bank extended 290 billion yuan to financial institutions in May via its medium-term lending facility (MLF), it said in a statement on its website.
It also injected 570 million yuan via its standing lending facility (SLF) in May.
Outstanding MLF was 1.638 trillion yuan at the end of May, the bank said, compared with 1.495 trillion yuan at the end of April.
Outstanding SLF stood at 400 million yuan at the end of May, compared with 410 million yuan at the end April, according to the statement.
That implied a net liquidity injection of 142.2 billion yuan via MLF in May and a net drain of 10 million yuan through SLF.
Interest rates on 3-month and 6-month MLF were unchanged at 2.75 percent and 2.85 percent, respectively, the central bank said.
The rate for overnight SLF was 2.75 percent, according to the PBOC.
