The People’s Bank of China has raised its key interest rates by a quarter percentage point.

The Chinese central bank announced its decision on Tuesday to raise the one-year deposit rate by a quarter percentage point to three percent. It also hiked the interest rate on one-year loans by a quarter percentage point to 6.06 percent.

China had upped its benchmark interest rates by a quarter percentage point on December 26th of last year as well.

The Chinese central bank’s move is apparently aimed at discouraging a fast increase in credit loans and at curbing inflation.