China's central bank said on Monday it will cut reserve requirement ratios (RRRs) to release about 280 billion yuan for some small and medium-sized banks, in a targeted move to support companies struggling amid an economic slowdown.

The amount of cash released by the latest cut would be one of the smallest from any of the RRR cuts since January 2018.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement that the reduction will come into effect on May 15. The funds will be used for loans to small and private companies.

The central bank said it will cut the RRR for about 1,000 rural commercial banks operating in counties to 8 percent, equal to the RRR for smaller rural credit cooperatives.

The move will help lower funding costs for small and micro firms, the PBOC said. Small and medium-sized banks currently have RRRs ranging from 10 percent to 11.5 percent.