Mubasher: The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) surprisingly injected liquidity into the financial system, by extending loans to banks, ahead of growth data this week, Bloomberg reported.

The PBoC injected 200 billion Chinese yuan (CNY) ($28 billion) of one-year cash via the medium-term lending facility, while keeping its interest rate steady.

This came as a surprise for markets as the central bank usually injects cash after previously extended loans come due, while the next batch will not mature until 5 November, Bloomberg said.

“They probably want to inject more long-term liquidity” to secure sufficient supply during the season of paying due taxes in mid-October and prop up the economy, Standard Chartered’s China macro strategy head Becky Liu was cited by the news outlet.

The Chinese economy went under pressure against the backdrop of a protracted trade conflict with the US as well as domestic economy.

This led the PBoC to relax its monetary policy through cutting corporate borrowing costs and lowering banks’ reserve ratios this year.

It is worth noting that figures on China’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the third quarter are due to be released on Friday.