China’s central bank leaves key policy rate unchanged

The People’s Bank of China said it was keeping the rate on 125 billion yuan in one-year MLF loans to some financial institutions unchanged at 2.50% from the previous operation. — Reuters

SHANGHAI: China’s central bank left a key policy rate unchanged when rolling over maturing medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans yesterday, in line with market expectations.

The steady MLF rate shows the central bank’s focus on keeping currency stability, analysts said, even as an unexpected credit contraction in April added to the case for more policy stimulus to prop up the world’s second-largest economy.