The Brazilian central bank has announced measures intended to increase liquidity and reduce funding costs, Reuters reports.

The news agency quotes the central bank as saying it has eased the reserve requirements for savings and current accounts with a view to releasing about 25.7 billion reais (US$7.7 billion) for new lending.

The report says the changes will take effect between late April and early May.

The central bank has also set rules governing the issue of covered bonds, a type of deposit that could increase mortgage lending by lowering funding costs, and changed the relevant rules to allow smaller financial companies to avail of services offered by banks, Reuters says.