A
staff
member
counts
Chinese
Yuan
at
a
bank’s
personal
finance
business
service
area
in
Haian,
East
China’s
Jiangsu
province,
Sept
15,
2023.
CFOTO
|
Future
Publishing
|
Getty
Images
China’s
lenders
cut
the
country’s
benchmark
five-year
loan
prime
rate
for
the
first
time
since
June,
extending
Beijing’s
efforts
to
revive
the
country’s
anemic
property
market.
The
Chinese
central
bank
kept
its
one-year
loan
prime
rate
—
the
peg
for
most
household
and
corporate
loans
in
China
—
unchanged
at
3.45%.
The
benchmark
five-year
loan
rate
—
the
peg
for
most
mortgages
—
was
cut
by
25
basis
points
to
3.95%,
according
to a
statement
Tuesday from
the
People’s
Bank
of
China.
The
cut
in
the
five-year
rate
in
the
monthly
fix
for
February
was
larger
than
expectations
for
a
reduction
of
between
five
to
15
basis
points
in
a
Reuters
poll
of
economists.
It
was
also
the
first
since
it
was
last
trimmed
in
June
by
10
basis
points.
“So
for
potential
homebuyers,
actually,
the
funding
costs
for
buying
houses
and
getting
mortgage
is
much,
much
more
lower.
I
think
in
terms
of
market
reaction,
we
need
a
little
bit
more
time,”
William
Ma,
chief
investment
officer
at
GROW
Investment
Group,
told
CNBC.
“But
at
the
same
time,
I
think
that
is
also
a…
good
sign
that
the
Chinese
government
and
regulator
is
showing
the
market
participants
that
the
banks
are
healthy
as
well
—
that
is
very
important,”
he
added.
“So
I
think
this
time
25
basis
point
cut,
from
my
perspective,
definitely
a
very
positive
sign.”
China
calculates
its
loan
prime
rates
each
month
after
20
designated
commercial
lenders
submit
their
proposed
rates
to
the
PBOC.
These
loan
prime
rates
usually
move
in
tandem
to
its
medium-term
policy rate,
which
the
PBOC
kept
unchanged
for
February
on
Sunday.
China
cut
the
reserve
ratio
requirements
for
its
banks
by
50
basis
points
from
Feb.
5,
providing
1
trillion
yuan
($139.8
billion)
in
long-term
capital,
while
urging
banks
to
support
loans
for
high-quality
real
estate
developers.
The
property
market
slumped
after
Beijing
cracked
down
on
developers’
high
reliance
on
debt
for
growth
in
2020,
ensnaring
some
of
its
largest
real
estate
developers
in
bankruptcy
and
weighing
on
consumer
growth
and
broader
growth
in
the
world’s
second-largest
economy.
—
CNBC’s
Lee
Ying
Shan
contributed
to
this
story.
