The action will increase the aggregate balance of the Hong Kong banking sector to HK$6.4 billion next Monday, a spokesman for the de facto central bank told AFP.

The move was announced shortly after major overseas banks launched coordinated liquidity-boosting measures in a bid to improve the conditions of their troubled financial markets.

The last time the HKMA injected liquidity into the market was in Oct 2007, amid an expectation that more money would be needed due to several large-scale initial public offerings, the spokesman said. -- AFP