The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, injected 166 billion yuan (24.3 billion U.S. dollars) into the money market this week, easing tight money supply conditions with bill issuance and repurchase agreements.

In its regular open market operations Thursday, the central bank auctioned 10 billion yuan (1.46 billion U.S. dollars) of three-month bills at a yield of 1.5704 percent, up 4.04 basis points from June 3.

On Thursday, the central bank also conducted repurchase agreement operations -- the first time in almost a month -- by absorbing 10 billion yuan through 91-day repurchase agreements. The yield on Thursday's 91-day repurchase agreement rose to 1.57 percent, up 16 basis points from its previous repurchase operation.

Thursday's operations together with Tuesday's 25 billion yuan worth of one-year bill issuance brought the weekly total raised to 45 billion yuan (6.6 billion U.S. dollars). But 211 billion yuan (30.9 billion U.S. dollars) of bills matured this week, meaning a net weekly injection of cash.

The central bank's net injection this week was the third straight week of net injection. It pumped 159 billion yuan (23.3 billion U.S. dollars) into the market in the previous two weeks.

Since mid-May, China's banks have faced a short-term money squeeze as the PBOC introduced a series of tightening measures to cool the booming property sector.

Zhao Qingming, a senior research fellow at China Construction Bank, the country's second largest lender, said the yield changes on central bank bills reflects tight money supply in the short-term.

Rising bill yields usually reflect lenders' reduced demand for safety or their cash hoarding.

For the whole week, yields on central-bank short-term debt instruments rose compared to the previous week.

The yield on one-year bills jumped 8.32 basis points to 2.0929 percent while the yield on three-month bills climbed 4.04 basis points to 1.5704 percent. The yield on 91-day repurchase agreements added 16 basis points to hit 1.57 percent.

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