(Yicai Global) Dec. 7 -- The People's Bank of China pulled CNY400 billion (USD61 billion) in liquidity out of the financial system today, as the regulator conducted a fairly small amount of reverse repo operations against maturing previous ones.

The bank carried out CNY50 billion 7-day reverse repo operation today against a maturing CNY150 billion of the earlier ones as well as CNY300 billion in medium-term lending facility operations that effectively drained CNY400 billion out of the system.

The PBOC let the MLF operation mature without any countermeasures today, after it announced on Nov. 30 that it plans to take them on Dec.15 when another batch of MLF operation falls due.

Today’s open market operation is to keep the liquidity in the country’s banking system “reasonably ample,” the bank said.

The central bank created the MLF operation in 2014 to provide liquidity support to qualified commercial banks whose businesses focus on economic activities in small cities or rural area. It usually carries out such operation once or twice each month.

Editor: Ben Armour