BEIJING - The People's Bank of China (PBOC) suspended open market operations on Monday, citing abundant liquidity in the financial system.

It is the 22th consecutive working day for the central bank to skip open market operations, a record long time span since early 2016 when the central bank announced added frequency of open market operations.

No reverse repo will mature this week.

Analysts believe the central bank would prefer mid- to long-term policy tools over reverse repos, which boost liquidity in the banking system within a short period of time, as it faces a major task in reducing costs of long-term financing.

A reverse repo is a process by which the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

The central bank will maintain a prudent and neutral monetary policy, with easing or tightening only as appropriate, and make the financial sector better serve the real economy, according to a report published by the bank in early November.