BEIJING, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- The People's Bank of China, the central bank, announced on Friday to raise the deposit reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 0.5 percentage points from Feb. 25.
The ratio would not change for small financial institutions such as the rural credit cooperatives, and the PBOC said it was aiming to support development of "sannong" (the farmers, the rural area and agriculture) and the county-level economy.
With the adjustment, the RRR for Chinese large financial institutions would stand at 16.5 percent, while the RRR at small financial institutions would remain unchanged at 13.5 percent.
It was the second rise for the ratio of deposit that lenders were required to set aside after the first rise on Jan. 18, 2010.
Since 2008, China had cut the RRR four times, while raising the ratio five times:
-- On Dec. 25, 2008, the PBOC cut the RRR for both large and small financial institutions by 0.5 percentage points. This brought the ratio for large financial institutions to 15.5 percent, and 13.5 percent for small ones.
-- On Dec. 5, 2008, the PBOC cut the RRR for large financial institutions by 1 percentage point, and 2 percentage points for small ones. It brought the ratio for large financial institutions to 16 percent, and 14 percent for small ones.
-- On Oct. 15, 2008, the PBOC cut the RRR for both large and small financial institutions by 0.5 percentage points. After the adjustment, the ratio for large and small financial institutions was 17 percent and 16 percent, respectively.
-- On Sept. 25, 2008, the PBOC cut the RRR for small financial institutions by 1 percentage point, while the ratio for large financial institutions remained unchanged. After the adjustment, the ratio for small financial institutions was 16.5 percent.
-- On June 7, 2008, the PBOC raised the RRR by 1 percentage point, bringing the ratio to 17.5 percent.
-- On May 20, 2008, the PBOC raised the RRR by 0.5 percentage points, bringing the ratio to 16.5 percent.
-- On April 25, 2008, the PBOC raised the RRR by 0.5 percentage points, bringing the ratio to 16 percent.
-- On March 18, 2008, the PBOC raised the RRR by 0.5 percentage points, bringing the ratio to 15.5 percent.
-- On Jan. 25, 2008, the PBOC raised the RRR by 0.5 percentage points. This brought the ratio to 15 percent.
