China’s central bank on Friday kept its benchmark interest rates unchanged as the Chinese economy recovered from the country’s COVID reopening quicker than expected.
The People’s Bank of China kept the one-year loan prime rate at 3.65% and five-year LPR at 4.3%, both unchanged from last month.
The hold on the benchmark loan rates for the fifth month in a row was widely expected after the central bank kept the medium-term lending facility, which is used to price LPR, steady earlier this week.
Chinese health authorities said in recent weeks that COVID infections may have peaked after the country reopened from three years of stringent restrictions last month. Domestic travel and spending data have gradually improved, with people venturing out ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday that starts Saturday in mainland China.
