BEIJING - The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, on Tuesday continued to pump cash into the financial system through open market operations to maintain liquidity in the market.

The PBOC conducted 160 billion yuan ($23.3 billion) of seven-day reverse repos, a liquidity-injecting process in which the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

The interest rate for the operation stood at 2.55 percent, the PBOC statement showed.

The PBOC said in a statement that Tuesday's operation is aimed at offsetting the impact of factors such as tax payment.

No reverse repos matured on Tuesday.

China vowed to keep its prudent monetary policy "neither too tight nor too loose" while maintaining market liquidity at a reasonably ample level in 2019.