China central bank may provide low-cost loans to support green financing: paper

[BEIJING] China's central bank may provide low-cost loans to banks to help them finance environmental projects, the official Securities Times reported on Tuesday, quoting the central bank's chief economist.

"The central bank might consider using broad re-lending tools such as the PSL to support financial institutions' medium- and long-term green finance projects," the paper quoted Ma Jun, chief economist of the central bank's research bureau, as saying at a conference on green bonds.

The pledged supplementary lending programme (PSL), initiated in 2014, is mainly designed to help the central bank boost lending to specific sectors by offering low cost loans to state-owned policy banks.

The central bank has pledged to offer policy support, including re-lending and interest subsidies, to help banks boost loans for green projects.

REUTERS