BEIJING — China’s central bank injected 120 billion yuan ($17.3 billion) of funds into the market on Oct 22 through reverse repos to maintain liquidity.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) conducted the seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2.55%, which was unchanged from the rate for the previous 30 billion-yuan operation on Oct 19, it said in a statement.

The move is aimed at offsetting the impact of such factors as tax payments and government bond issuance and keeping liquidity in the banking system at a reasonable and ample level, according to the statement.

A reverse repo is a process by which the central bank bids and buys securities from commercial banks with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

China will continue to implement a prudent and neutral monetary policy and properly deal with the relationship between stabilizing growth, deleveraging and strengthening regulatory control, according to a statement issued after a meeting of the financial stability and development committee under the State Council on Oct 20.