China's central bank has set aside another 20 billion yuan ($3.24 billion) for a scheme designed to funnel credit into agriculture, it announced on August 27.

The money has been allocated to a re-lending program, under which the central bank extends loans to commercial banks on the condition that they in turn lend to businesses in required sectors.

The move follows a State Council meeting in July that saw pledges to boost agriculture by increasing the scale of re-lending and also re-discount programs, which allow the central bank to pump funds into commercial banks by purchasing their bills.

On August 8, the central bank added 12 billion yuan ($1.95 billion) to the re-discount quota.

Authorities hope the policies will help support growth in agriculture while stemming credit flow to undesired sectors.