BEIJING, July 31 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank has raised its re-lending quota by 50 billion yuan (about 7.3 billion U.S. dollars) to boost financial support for small and micro firms and private businesses.
The re-lending quota will be granted to five kinds of local financial institutions, including city commercial banks, rural commercial banks, rural cooperative banks, village banks and private banks, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said Wednesday in a statement.
After the increase, the country's re-lending quota supporting small firms amounted to 369.5 billion yuan.
Since the begining of this year, the PBOC has enhanced financial support for small businesses, with outstanding re-lending loans reaching 226.7 billion yuan by the end of June.
Re-lending is a monetary tool used by the central bank to increase financial institutions' liquidity and guide credit flows.