The one-year loan prime rate, which is fixed at 3.45% for the majority of Chinese consumer and business loans, was not altered by the Chinese central bank. In a statement released on Tuesday, the People’s Bank of China said that the benchmark five-year loan rate—which is fixed at 3.95% for the majority of mortgages—had been lowered by 25 basis points.
A Reuters survey of analysts predicted that the monthly fix for February would see a five-year rate cut of between five and fifteen basis points; however, the actual cut was more. In addition, this was the biggest one-time reduction in the five-year rate and the first since it was last reduced by 10 basis points in June.