China Holds Key Lending Rates Steady

A rundown of the news making headlines in and around China:

Lending rates held: China’s benchmark lending rates have remained unchanged for the third month in a row. At the fixing on Monday, the one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was kept at 3.1% and the five-year-plus LPR, a key reference for mortgage rates, at 3.6%. China’s economy is under pressure from weak domestic consumption and rising external uncertainties, prompting policymakers to increase efforts to stimulate growth. As the central bank has adopted a looser monetary policy, interest rates have trended downward. However, Chinese banks already chopped existing mortgage rates down by around 0.5 percentage points in October, thinning interest rate margins and limiting the scope for further rate cuts. Also, with China hitting its 5% GDP growth target for 2024, there is a somewhat reduced need for stimulus.