China's central bank is set to inject about 200 billion yuan ($32.66 billion) worth of three-month loans into five or six listed banks to keep liquidity ample and support the slowing Chinese economy, four sources with knowledge of the matter said on Friday.

The injection follows signs that Chinese investors are beginning to bet that the PBOC is going to reduce the official deposit rate, now fixed at 3 percent.

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And it came after a 500 billion-yuan injection the People's Bank of China (PBOC) made into China's top banks last month via its standard lending facility (SLF) in the form of three-month loans.



"Banks got the notice this afternoon but perhaps will only receive the funds next week. This injection focuses on listed joint-stock banks," one source said.

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Analysts also suspect that recent moves to guide traded short-term rates by lowering the guidance rates for repo contracts may be buttressed by cuts in nominal lending rates. The aim would be to encourage state-owned banks to lower the cost of credit for productive investments.

