China cuts reserve requirements for banks to cushion slowdown

China said on Friday it would cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves for the first time this year, releasing about 530 billion yuan ($83.25 billion) in long-term liquidity to cushion a sharp slowdown in economic growth.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said on its website it would cut the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) for all banks by 25 basis points (bps), effective from April 25, but analysts said it might not yet be enough to reverse the slowdown.

Heightened global risks from the war in Ukraine and within China widespread COVID-19 lockdowns and a weak property market have triggered convulsions in the world’s second-largest economy that are quickly spilling over into global supply chains.

China’s exports, the last major driver of growth, are also showing signs of fatigue, and some economists say the risks of a recession are rising.

“I don’t think this RRR cut matters that much for the economy at this stage,” said Zhiwei Zhang, chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, noting it was less than markets had expected.

“The main challenge the economy faces is the Omicron outbreaks and the lockdown policies that restrict mobility. More liquidity may help on the margin, but it doesn’t address the root of the problem,” he said.

The PBOC said the latest RRR cut would boost the long-term funds for banks, enabling them to step up support for industries and firms affected by COVID-19 outbreaks, and lower costs for financial institutions.

The PBOC will also continue to keep liquidity broadly stable, while closely watching inflationary trends and policy changes made by developed countries, it said.

For city commercial banks that do not have cross-provincial business and rural commercial banks that have an RRR of more than 5%, they are entitled to an additional cut of 25 bps.

The weighted average RRR for financial institutions will be lowered to 8.1% after the cut, the central bank said.

HEADWINDS The cut had been widely expected after China’s cabinet said on Wednesday that monetary policy tools should be used in a timely way to bolster growth.

It follows a broad-based reduction in December and marks the latest step by Chinese policymakers to cushion a sharp slowdown.

The PBOC has also started cutting interest rates, while local governments have expedited infrastructure spending and the finance ministry has pledged more tax cuts.

China’s economy rebounded strongly from a pandemic-induced slump in 2020 but cooled over the course of 2021 due to persistent property market weakness and strict measures to contain COVID-19 flare-ups, which hurt consumption.

The government’s determination to halt the latest spread of record COVID-19 cases has clogged highways and ports, stranded workers and shut countless factories - disruptions that are ripping through global supply chains for goods ranging from electric vehicles to iPhones.

China’s imports unexpectedly fell in March as the restrictions hampered freight arrivals and weakened domestic demand, while export growth also slowed. Factory and services sector activity both contracted.

The government targets economic growth of around 5.5% this year as headwinds build, but some analysts say that may now be hard to achieve without more aggressive stimulus measures.

With other major central banks such as the US Federal Reserve set to aggressively raise interest rates or already doing so, more forceful easing in China could spur potentially destabilising capital outflows as investors shift money to higher yielding assets.

Earlier on Friday, the PBOC left borrowing costs on medium-term policy loans unchanged for a third straight month, as expected.

A virus surge has led to restrictions on dozens of cities in recent weeks as officials stick to a strict zero-Covid policy of stamping out clusters as they emerge, leaving areas like the key business hub of Shanghai locked down for weeks.

Manufacturers have been forced to halt operations, while carmakers warned this week that the situation could threaten auto output and key ports like Shanghai have become clogged.

A key aim of the rate cut is to “guide financial institutions to actively use funds from the RRR cut to support industries and small, medium and micro enterprises severely affected by the pandemic,” said the People’s Bank of China in a statement.

It added that the move would also reduce the capital costs of financial institutions by about 6.5 billion yuan per year.

Analysts said the move would have a limited impact on the slowing economy.

“The RRR cut should nudge down bank lending rates, which will take a bit of pressure off of indebted borrowers,” said Julian Evans-Pritchard, senior China economist at Capital Economics.