SHANGHAI, Aug 26 Reuters China39;s central bank rolled over maturing mediumterm loans and injected cash through its liquidity instruments on Monday, underlining market expectations for further easing as the economy struggles to gain traction.

The People39;s Bank of China PBOC said it was keeping the rate on 300 billion yuan 42.11 billion worth of oneyear mediumterm lending facility MLF loans to some financial institutions at 2.30, unchanged from the previous operation.

And it injected another 471 billion yuan through sevenday reverse repos while keeping borrowing costs unchanged at 1.70.

Today39;s outcome adds to expectation for a nearterm reserve requirement ratio RRR cut, said Frances Cheung, head of FX and rates strategy at OCBC Bank.

Meanwhile, as U.S. rates fell further, there may also be renewed expectations for an interest rate cut in China.

China is struggling with a prolonged property crisis that has curbed investment and dented consumer demand.

Monday39;s reverse repo operation was meant to keep monthend banking system liquidity conditions reasonably ample, the central bank said in an online statement.

A batch of 401 billion yuan worth of MLF loans was due earlier this month, when the PBOC said it would postpone the loan rollover.

The postponement and the sequence of a string of key interest rate cuts last month suggested that the central bank has changed its monetary policy framework, market watchers said, shifting the shortterm rate to being the main…