China money market rate soars

Rising borrowing costs in China are leading analysts to believe that the central bank is quietly increasing interbank interest rates to discourage debt-fueled financial investments, Caixin reports. The three-month Shibor, or Shanghai interbank offered rate, increased for the 31st straight trading day to 3.0686% on Friday, the longest period of gain since the end of 2010, said the Economic Information Daily, a newspaper run by Xinhua News Agency. Shibor was launched by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) in 2007 to provide a pricing reference for lending activities between Chinese banks. It currently consists of eight maturities ranging from overnight to one year. It is regarded as a gauge of funding sufficiency in the banking system. The rate goes up when liquidity is tight, while its decline often suggests banks’ cash reserves are abundant.