Economic Buzz: China keeps lending rate steady

China held its benchmark lending rates steady for August, with the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) maintained at 3.0 percent and the over-five-year LPR, a key reference for mortgage lending, unchanged at 3.5 percent, the National Interbank Funding Center announced on Wednesday.

The LPR, introduced in 2019, is the benchmark against which commercial banks price loans and is widely viewed as a gauge of the central bank?s monetary policy stance.

The one-year LPR primarily influences corporate and household loans, while the over-five-year LPR serves as the reference for most mortgages. By keeping both rates steady, the People?s Bank of China (PBoC) appears to be taking a wait-and-see approach amid persistent economic headwinds, including a sluggish property sector, weak domestic demand, and external uncertainties linked to global trade tensions.

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