Meaning:
“麻辣” means “spicy and hot,” and “粉” means “rice noodles.” Expats may be puzzled when they hear Chinese people discussing finance and bank-related topics, using funny nicknames for certain jargons. Today’s catch phrase is an example. As the initial letters used in the pinyin for “麻辣粉” is “MLF,” it became the nickname for “medium-term lending facility,” a mechanism that central banks use when lending funds to primary dealers (i.e. banks, broker/dealers or other financial institutions). Usually termed three to six months, the MLF requires primary dealers to provide collateral for the loans.
Example:
A: 最近资金面紧张吗？
Zuìjìn zījīnmiàn jǐnzhāng ma？
Is liquidity tight these days?
B: 不紧张，上周央行还启动”麻辣粉”操作了。
Bù jǐnzhāng，shàngzhōu yāngháng hái qǐdòng “málàfěn” cāozuò le。
Not really. The Central Bank injected funds into the market via the medium-term lending facility last week.