Commercial banks keep lending rates steady

Clear indicators: The headquarters of China’s central bank in Beijing. The PBoC held steady its benchmark lending rates earlier this month and the country’s leading commercial lenders follow suit. — Reuters

SHANGHAI: China’s commercial lenders are keeping their benchmark lending rates steady, in line with the central bank’s decision earlier this month to maintain policy rates in favour of other means to support stimulus spending.The one-year loan prime rate was held at 3.45% yesterday, in line with the forecasts from almost every economist surveyed by Bloomberg.

The five-year rate, a reference for mortgages, was kept at 4.2%, according to the People’s Bank of China (PBoC). That also broadly matched expectations.