China’s central bank expanded companies’ access to cheap loans Monday from six major state-owned lenders through a special relending program in a move to bolster businesses struck by the deadly coronavirus, reported Caixin.
The People’s Bank of China told the country’s biggest banks to provide low-interest loans to selected companies shortlisted by 10 provincial and municipal governments, using a RMB 300 billion ($42.6 billion) special relending fund set up Feb. 7 to support companies involved in fighting the Covid-19 epidemic.
The order means more companies are now eligible to get low-interest loans from the country’s biggest banks — the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications and the Postal Savings Bank — under the special relending project, according to a notice from the People’s Bank of China.
Previously, only companies on a national list picked by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology could access the cheap funding from the state lenders.