China kept its benchmark lending rate for corporate and household loans steady as expected for the fourth straight month at its August fixing today, Reuters repeorts. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) was kept unchanged at 3.85 percent, while the five-year LPR remained at 4.65 percent. Most new and outstanding loans are based on the LPR, while the five-year rate influences the pricing of mortgages. The LPR is a lending reference rate set monthly by 18 banks. The PBOC revamped the mechanism to price LPR in August 2019, loosely pegging it to the MLF rate.

Source: The Standard August 20, 2020 03:33 UTC