China has cut one of its main benchmark lending rates for the second time this year, in a bid to revive economic growth in the world’s second largest economy.
The People’s Bank of China trimmed on Monday its one-year loan prime rate (LPR) by 10 basis points from 3.55% to 3.45% and did not change the five-year rate, which stands at 4.20%.
The cut to the one-year benchmark lending rate was expected, but the lack of action on the five-year rate was a surprise to economists.
A majority of analysts polled by Reuters had anticipated a 15-basis-point cut to the one-year rate, on which most new and outstanding loans are based.
Nearly all of them predicted that the five-year rate, which serves as the mortgage reference rate, would be reduced by at least 15 basis points.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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