The People's Bank of China, the central bank, announced on February 12 to raise the reserve requirement ratio—the amount of money that banks must deposit into the central bank—by 0.5 percentage points, effective on February 25.

With the adjustment, the ratio for large financial institutions would stand at 16.5 percent. But the ratio would not change for small financial institutions, such as the rural credit cooperative, and would stay at 13.5 percent. The central bank said it was aiming to support development for the farmers, the rural area and agriculture, and the county-level economy.

It was the second reserve requirement ratio increase this year, with the first one on January 18.