PBOC says it cut prime lending facility rate by 0.25 points to 1.5%
The central bank also adjusted other monetary policy tools alongside the move.
Published
The People's Bank of China said it cut its 1-year prime lending facility rate by 0.25 percentage points, to 1.5%, and adjusted other monetary policy tools alongside the move.
It is the first outright rate cut in the current easing sequence. Through September, authorities had relied on reverse repo operations and credit steering aimed at specific sectors rather than a reduction in rates.
The move sits apart from the separate 1-year Loan Prime Rate, which Reuters reporting carried by financecalendar.com and tradingeconomics.com showed had been held at 3.00% for 16 straight months as of September 21.
The PBOC has also said it plans to expand credit support for the services sector rather than broaden overall lending. A quarter-point cut is a real easing step, one that goes beyond the reverse repo operations and targeted credit steering seen through September, and suggests policymakers are more concerned about soft loan growth than recent messaging about being "more targeted" had implied. That leans mildly bullish for China-exposed assets and for commodities tied to Chinese demand, though the size of the cut points to a gradual easing cycle rather than an aggressive one.