The People's Bank of China (PBC) on Thursday issued two batches of central bank bills totaling 102 billion yuan (14.3 billion U.S. dollars), the latest attempt to mop up excess liquidity.

The move was intended to maintain stable growth in the money supply and steady market interest rates, the PBOC said.

The 78 billion yuan of three-year bills and the 24 billion yuan of three-month bills were auctioned at yields of 4.56 percent and 3.4071 percent respectively, flat from last week.

The bills were sold to primary dealers, such as commercial banks, securities firms, insurance companies and other financial institutions approved by the central bank.

On Feb. 14, the PBOC issued 195 billion yuan of central bank bills, the largest one-day issue in nearly a year.

Analysts said that the huge bills issue sent the market a clear signal of continued efforts to mop up excess liquidity.

M2, the broader measure of money supply, which covers cash in circulation plus all deposits, rose 18.94 percent by the end of January, 2.22 percentage points higher than a month earlier, the PBC said earlier.

It also said that new Renminbi loans last month surged to a record high of 803.6 billion yuan, up 237.3 billion yuan from a year earlier.

(Xinhua News Agency February 22, 2008)