2010-08-10 17:03

BEIJING - The People's Bank of China (PBOC), China's central bank, auctioned 33 billion yuan ($4.87 billion) of one-year bills at its regular open market operations Tuesday at a yield of 2.0929 percent.

The one-year bill yield has been steady at 2.0929 percent since June 8.

Bills and repurchase agreements worth 92 billion yuan ($13.58 billion) will mature this week.

A trader at a commercial bank in Shanghai said the money market remains quite liquid as China Everbright Bank's initial public offering has not affected market liquidity.

Through the offering, the Beijing-based bank plans to sell 6.1 billion shares, or if an over-allotment option is exercised, 7 billion shares.

The bank's IPO price is likely to be between 3 yuan and 3.3 yuan per share.

Li Huaiding, fixed income analyst at Guosen Securities, said the central bank will probably modestly absorb liquidity from the money market this week.

Li said any change in the issuance of three-year bills by the central bank on Thursday will reflect the central bank's policy stance.

Li estimated the central bank's issuance of three-year bills will be around 85 billion yuan ($12.55 billion) on Thursday due to "quite strong" demand in the market.

"If the July consumer price index exceeds market expectations or is at the upper end of the expected range, the PBOC may be forced to increase the size of the three-year bill issuance on Thursday," he said.

Institutions and economists expect China's July CPI to be between 3.3 percent and 3.5 percent. The National Bureau of Statistics will release July CPI data Wednesday.