BEIJING, March 6 -- China will cut reserve requirement ratios (RRRs) and interest rates when appropriate this year in line with domestic and international economic and financial conditions as well as the performance of financial markets, the country's central bank governor said Thursday.

The average RRR for China's financial institutions now stands at 6.6 percent, and there is still room for further reduction, Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, said at a press conference on the sidelines of the third session of the 14th National People's Congress.

Pan said there is also room for lowering the rates of funds that the central bank provides to commercial banks via structural monetary policy instruments.

He said the central bank will use a variety of monetary policy tools, including open market operations, medium-term lending facilities, re-lending and rediscounts, as well as policy rates, to maintain ample liquidity in the market, reduce banks' liability costs, and further drive down the overall costs of social financing.

The central bank will also study and introduce new structural monetary policy instruments to support the investment and financing in the area of sci-tech innovation, boost consumption, and stabilize foreign trade, Pan said.