Chinese Banks Hold Rates Steady, as Expectations Rise for Easing

(Bloomberg) — China’s commercial lenders held their benchmark lending rates in line with the central bank’s recent move to maintain borrowing costs, as attention shifts toward the likelihood of more easing in the coming months.

The one-year loan prime rate was kept at 3.45%, matching the consensus forecast among economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The five-year rate — a reference for mortgages, was also held at 4.2% as projected — data from the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) showed. Last week, the PBOC refrained from trimming the rate on its one-year policy loans.