China’s central bank cuts key lending rates, including one for the first time in

China’s central bank cut its benchmark lending rates again on Thursday amid concerns about an economic slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy. The People’s Bank of China reduced the one-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points from 3.8% to 3.7%. In December, the PBOC cut the one-year loan prime rate for the first time since April 2020.The five-year loan prime rate was lowered by 5 basis points from 4.65% to 4.6% — it was the first cut since April 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

Loan prime rates (LPR) affect the lending rates for corporate and household loans in the country.Most new and outstanding loans in China are based on the one-year LPR, but the five-year rate influences the pricing of home mortgages, according to Reuters. A snap poll by Reuters had showed that most participants expected China to slash both the lending rates on Thursday. The rate cuts continue the PBOC’s efforts to push down borrowing costs,