Central Bank to Drain 205b Yuan from Market Thursday

BEIJING, July 15 -- China's central bank said Wednesday that it will auction 160 billion yuan ($23.61 billion) of three-year bills and 45 billion yuan of three-month (91 days) bills in its regular open market operations on July 15.

The three-year bills, a surge from the previous sale worth 22 billion yuan on July 2, also will set a new record since the People's Bank of China resumed auction of the three-year bills earlier this year.

A Thursday report by the China Securities Journal, citing bill traders, said that the money market saw ample liquidity again with the close of Agricultural Bank of China's initial public offering subscriptions and the pass of seasonal factors that fueled demand for money. Meanwhile, demands for three-year bills from institutional investors have increased owing to their concerns about the economic outlook as economic data for June and the first half of the year is rolling out.

Analysts said that it was not a surprise for the central bank to decrease the net injection or even exercise small money drain from the market as it has increased money supply for seven weeks in a row, with net injection hitting 938 billion yuan, and the market's recent cash crunch has passed, the paper reported.

The central bank drained 35 billion yuan from the market through selling one-year bills on Tuesday. Bills and notes worth 259 billion yuan will mature on the open market this week, the report said.