(Yicai Global) Feb. 3 -- Interest rates for China's open market operations are falling after the central bank overshot liquidity expectations and it is likely the loan prime rate, to be announced on Feb. 20, will be lower as a result, Financial News cited Ma Jun, a member of the central bank's Monetary Policy Committee, as saying.

The People's Bank of China conducted CNY1.2 trillion (USD171 billion) worth of reverse repos today, including a seven-day CNY900 billion reverse repo at 2.4 percent, down from 2.5 percent on Dec. 19. The CNY300 billion 14-day reverse repo was at 2.55 percent, down from 2.65 percent when one was last issued on Jan. 22.