China kept its lending benchmarks unchanged despite signs of weak economic recovery in post-Covid time and calls for more stimulus to boost growth.
The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was maintained at 3.55%, while the five-year rate was kept at 4.20%.
However, many market watchers call for the government to deliver more stimulus and focus on specific segments such as the property sector, while also looking to see more rate cuts to widen the interest rate differentials with the United States further and pressure an already weak yuan.
Growth of the world’s second largest economy in the second quarter of 2023 came in at 6.3% from a year prior, missing expectations of economists polled by Reuters for a 7.3% growth. An expansion in the second quarter rose 0.8% from the first quarter, slower than a 2.2% pace shown in the first three months of this year.
