Chinese banks are leaving their one- and five-year interest rates unchanged in September at 3.35 and 3.85 percent, respectively, according to a press release from China's central bank. This was in line with the average forecast among analysts, according to the news agency Bloomberg.
Prior to the announcement, China's central bank also refrained from adjusting its seven-day benchmark rate, despite recent interest rate cuts from other leading central banks in the world.
Many observers expect that monetary policy stimuli will soon be introduced in China after a period of unexpectedly weak economic development in the world's second-largest economy – which appears to be struggling to reach its target of 5 percent growth this year.
Bloomberg's economists expect the benchmark rate to be cut by 0.10 percentage points in the fourth quarter of this year, which would give the country's banks more room to lower their interest rates.
