The People’s Bank of China (PBOC, Central Bank) kept the 1-year benchmark lending rate (LPR) at 3.7% per annum.

It was cut by 5 basis points last December, cut by another 10 bps in January, and then remained unchanged.

The rate on 5-year loans was kept at 4.45% per annum, the NBK said. In the previous month, the regulator had cut it by 15 bps to the maximum since the 2019 rate reforms.

Most analysts had expected the LPR to remain unchanged, Trading Economics and MarketWatch reported, as the NBK also decided last week to leave the lending rate under the medium-term lending facility (MLF) unchanged at 2.85% per annum.

The LPR became the new benchmark in August 2019 following the Chinese central bank’s interest rate reform. From 2020, the NBK requires banks to focus specifically on the LPR when setting rates for new loans.