It is also important to note that more banks are now participating in the Bank’s weekly repo. The number has increased from four banks to five and, more recently, to six, with a seventh institution also occasionally taking up a portion of the amount on offer in the weekly repo.
The broader participation by banks in the main weekly refinancing operations is encouraging, and will further enhance the implementation of monetary policy. The Bank started using longer-term foreign-exchange swaps with maturities of up to 12 months as an instrument to manage money-market liquidity and to facilitate accelerated foreign-exchange purchases.