BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- China's central bank on Monday suspended open market operations for a seventh consecutive working day, citing abundant liquidity in the financial system.

"The relatively high liquidity level in the banking system can offset the impact from factors including maturing reverse repos," the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on its website.

On Monday, 20 billion yuan (about 3.2 billion U.S. dollars) of reverse repos matured.

A reverse repo is a tool the central bank uses to inject liquidity into the banking sector by purchasing securities from commercial banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

On Monday's interbank market, the overnight Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate, which measures the cost at which banks lend to one another, fell by 6.8 basis points to 2.62 percent.

China has vowed to maintain a prudent and neutral monetary policy in 2018 to balance growth and risk prevention.