China central bank People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on April 3 it will cut reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by one percentage point for some banks, which is expected to release 400 billion yuan ($56.4 billion) to the market.

This came after two RRR cuts were implemented this year, which freed up 1.35 trillion yuan of long-term funds cumulatively, in an effort to support the development of the real economy, promote greater support for small, medium and micro enterprises, and reduce the actual cost of social financing, especially amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The PBOC announced it will lower the deposit reserve ratio by one percentage point on April 15 and May 15, by 0.5 percent each time.

The banks that benefit from RRR cut of this time are small and medium ones, including rural credit cooperatives, rural commercial banks, rural cooperative banks, village and town banks, and city commercial banks that are only operating only at the provincial level.

Additionally, the PBOC has decided to reduce the excess deposit reserve interest rate of financial institutions in the central bank from 0.72 percent to 0.35 percent since April 7.

On January 6, the central bank lowered the deposit reserve ratio of some financial institutions by 0.5 percentage points, releasing more than 800 billion yuan of long-term funds.

On March 16, the PBOC announced RRR cuts by 0.5 to one percentage points for qualified banks. Qualified joint-stock commercial banks will be eligible for an additional one percentage point RRR cut. The move was aimed at financial institutions' services for small businesses, farmers, low-income households, people with disabilities and senior citizens, freeing up 550 billion yuan.