(Yicai Global) March 13 -- China's central bank has followed up on a cabinet decision on March 11 by making a targeted cut to the amount of money banks need to keep on hand, freeing up CNY550 billion (USD78.8 billion) in funds to support businesses hit by the novel coronavirus.

The cut in the reserve requirement ratio will take effect on March 16, the People's Bank of China said in a statement released today.

Lenders that meet the assessment criteria can trim the RRR by 0.5 percentage point to 1 percentage point, while qualified joint-stock commercial banks can cut by an additional 1 point, the PBOC said.