China central bank gives banks more cash to lend to farmers, small businesses

[BEIJING] China's central bank will increase its relending quota, by which it lends funds to banks at low rates to give them more cash they can lend out to customers, by 50 billion yuan, it said on Friday.

The funds are intended to support lending to rural areas and for small businesses, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement on its website. It added that the increase in the relending quotas would also help reduce funding costs for companies, which is one of the policy aims it has articulated for this year.

REUTERS