SHANGHAI: China kept its benchmark interest rate for corporate and household lending unchanged yesterday, as expected, although analysts say the case for monetary stimulus is building amid mounting external risks to an already slowing economy.
The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was held at 3.7% while the five-year LPR remained at 4.6%.
Just over half the traders and analysts surveyed in a snap Reuters poll last week expected China to keep both rates unchanged.
The pricing of the LPR is loosely pegged to the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) medium-term lending facility (MLF) rate, which the central bank kept unchanged last week, dashing expectations for a cut.
The LPR is set monthly by 18 banks, who submit quotations of their lending rates by adding a premium over the MLF rate.
Markets now widely expect policymakers to resume monetary easing soon to revive an economy hit by a domestic Covid-19 resurgence, weaker credit growth and a faltering property sector, while increasing global risks from the Ukraine conflict also add pressure.
Win Thin, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, said more policy stimulus will be needed to meet the country’s growth target of around 5.5% for this year.
“We see another round of rate cuts coming in early second quarter,
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