BEIJING — China's central bank Friday injected fresh funds via its medium-term lending facility (MLF) to keep liquidity stable.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) pumped 498 billion yuan ($75.6 billion) into the financial system via MLF. The interest rate for one-year MLF loans was unchanged at 3.2 percent, the central bank said in a statement on its website.

It skipped reverse repo sales on Friday, after pumping 20 billion yuan into the banking system through reverse repos the previous day.

The MLF tool was first introduced in 2014 to help commercial and policy banks maintain liquidity by allowing them to borrow from the central bank by using securities as collateral.

Maturing MLF will drain a total of 439.5 billion yuan from the market in October.

The PBOC's open market operations are closely watched by the market, as they have become major tools for the central bank in pursuing its monetary policy.

Such a policy stance is crucial for China as it has to juggle the task of financial deleveraging, aimed at defusing risk and curbing asset bubbles, while shoring up the economy.

The PBOC skipped open market operations for three trading days before and after the week-long National Day holiday, saying that there was sufficient liquidity in the banking system.