China Keeps Benchmark Rates Unchanged As Expected
20 Aprile 2023 - 03:34AM
RTTF2
China's central bank maintained its benchmark rates on Thursday,
as widely expected, as the economy logged a strong growth after the
unwinding of zero-Covid policy.
The People's Bank of China left its one-year loan prime rate, or
LPR, unchanged at 3.65 percent. Similarly, the five-year LPR, the
benchmark for mortgage rates, was retained at 4.30 percent.
Earlier, the bank had reduced the five-year LPR rate by 15 basis
points each in May and August 2022, and by 5 basis points in
January 2022. The one-year LPR was last lowered in August 2022.
The LPR is fixed monthly based on the submission of 18 banks,
though Beijing has influence over the rate-setting. The LPR
replaced the central bank's traditional benchmark lending rate in
August 2019.
Markets widely anticipated the PBoC to hold the LPR today as the
medium-term lending facility, or MLF, which acts as a guide to the
LPR, was kept unchanged early this week.
On Monday, the PBoC had added CNY 170 billion via one-year MLF
at an interest rate of 2.75 percent. The bank also conducted
seven-day reverse repo operations worth CNY 20 billion at a rate of
2.00 percent.
In the first quarter, the second-largest economy logged an
annual growth of 4.5 percent, stronger than the 2.9 percent
expansion registered in the fourth quarter of 2022, official data
showed early this week.
After a weaker 3.0 percent economic growth in 2022, the Chinese
government set a moderate growth target of around 5.0 percent for
this year.
The International Monetary Fund had projected growth outlook for
China at 5.2 percent this year and 4.5 percent in 2024.
Grafico Cross Euro vs CHF (FX:EURCHF)
Da Ago 2023 a Set 2023
Grafico Cross Euro vs CHF (FX:EURCHF)
Da Set 2022 a Set 2023
