China Zinssatz

The People's Bank of China kept benchmark lending rates unchanged at the March fixing, as widely expected. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR), the benchmark for most corporate and household loans, was retained at 3.45%. Meanwhile, the five-year rate, a reference for property mortgages, was maintained at 3.95% following the biggest-ever reduction of 25bps in February. Both rates are at record lows, as the central bank seeks to spur an economic turnaround in the face of headwinds from the property sector and a near-record low in consumer confidence. Wednesday's move came after monetary authorities left medium-term lending rates last week, and drained cash from the banking system for the first time since November 2022 due to worries that too much cash within the system might not flow into the real economy. Recently, the PBoC signaled there was room for further cuts of banks’ RRR. It also viewed that China has ample monetary policy tools and will use them to stabilize consumer prices.