China's Key Lending Rate Holds at Record Low for a 14th Straight Month

China's central bank, the People's Bank of China, kept its one-year loan prime rate (LPR), the benchmark for most corporate and household borrowing, at a record low of 3.0 percent on Monday, August 17, 2026 (26 Mordad 1405) for a 14th consecutive month, while the five-year LPR, the reference rate for mortgages, was also held at 3.5 percent, a decision fully in line with market expectations. According to Trading Economics, citing the People's Bank of China, the move reflects Chinese policymakers' caution over the fallout from the war in West Asia on the domestic economy, as China's GDP growth in the second quarter slowed to its lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2022.

The report said price pressure on Chinese consumers and producers persists amid higher energy costs and supply chain disruption linked to the West Asia crisis, yuan lending in June rose from May but grew more slowly than a year earlier, and housing prices continued their decline in China's property sector in June.