IT'S very unlikely the People's Bank of China will lower the reserve requirement for commercial banks in the near term, said Oliver Chiu, head of research and investment advisory of retail banking at Citibank China.

There's a higher chance the PBOC will lower cash reserve ratios when Chinese capital account outflows exceed current account surplus, he said in Shanghai today.

The central bank may cut the reserve require ratio by 25 basis points, raise the cap of deposit rates from current 10 percent to 20 percent, and remove the floor of lending rates. However, these measures will have limited impact on liquidity in general, according to a research report released by the bank.

The PBOC announced on Friday it will scrap the lower limit of lending rates except for personal mortgages. The upper limit of deposit rates that banks can offer remains unchanged.

The American bank also estimated total new bank loans will reach 9 trillion yuan (US$1.5 trillion) in China this year.

Total social financing, the broadest measure of credit supply, is expected to reach 18 trillion yuan. Meanwhile M2, the broader measure of money supply, will expand 14 percent yearly in 2013.