BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s central financial institution made 350 billion yuan ($49.1 billion) in loans to coverage banks by way of its pledged supplementary lending (PSL) facility in December, fuelling expectations of elevated assist for the ailing housing sector.

The Folks’s Financial institution of China, which launched the info in a press release on Tuesday, didn’t say how the loans can be utilized by the banks – China Growth Financial institution, Export-Import Financial institution of China and Agricultural Growth Financial institution of China.

That is the primary month-to-month improve in PSL loans since November 2022. The PBOC made 630 billion yuan in such loans between September and November 2022 to assist the financial system amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

China plans to supply at the least 1 trillion yuan of low-cost financing to the nation’s city village redevelopment and reasonably priced housing programmes to shore up the struggling property market, Bloomberg Information reported in November.

Excellent PSL loans have been at 3.252 trillion yuan on the finish of December, in contrast with 2.902 trillion yuan on the finish of November, PBOC stated.

The PSL programme, initiated in 2014, was initially designed to assist assist any property downturn by funding city redevelopment throughout the nation, pushing up property costs within the course of.

China relied closely on PSL loans to assist its shanty-town renovation throughout 2015-2018.

($1 = 7.1348 )