China's central bank to conduct overnight reverse repos to manage short-term liquidity

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) announced Wednesday that it will conduct overnight reverse repo operations on Aug. 14 and from Aug. 17 to Aug. 19, to better meet the short-term liquidity needs of the banking system.

The operations will be conducted at a fixed interest rate through quantity-based bidding, with the daily amount capped at 600 billion yuan (about 88.4 billion U.S. dollars), according to the central bank.

Overnight reverse repo is a process in which the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through a bidding process, with an agreement to sell them back the next day.

In late June, the PBOC added the tool to its open market operations, a move aimed at further improving the interest rate regulation mechanism and diversifying its monetary policy toolkit.

The new tool can help smooth temporary fluctuations in liquidity, improve the efficiency of liquidity management and reduce financing costs for institutions, according to the central bank.

The Lebanese army said Wednesday that the continued Israeli attacks and the violation of the existing framework agreement and international law are preventing the return of local residents to their homes and obstructing the completion of its deployment in southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese army said in a statement that Israeli forces blew up the municipal building, a public school, a health clinic, a nursery and several homes in the town of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah.

Lebanon, Israel and the United States reached a framework agreement in Washington D.C. on June 26.

In accordance with the agreement, the Israeli military would withdraw from parts of southern Lebanon, and the Lebanese army would take over local security affairs. But since the agreement was reached, the Israeli military has repeatedly launched military strikes against targets in Lebanon.