PBOC keeps key lending rates on hold

(Sharecast News) - China once again kept benchmark lending rates on hold on Wednesday, as widely expected. The People's Bank of China left the one-year loan prime rate at 3.0% and the five-year LPR at 3.5%. Consensus had been for no change.

The central bank has now left the cost of borrowing unchanged for 12 consecutive months.

The decision comes amid a backdrop of mounting economic pressures for Beijing. Data published on Monday showed retail sales and industrial production significantly undershot forecasts in April. House prices also remain under pressure, as does fixed asset investment.

At the time, a spokesperson for the National Bureau of Statistics acknowledged that the international environment was "complex and severe".

The outbreak of war in the Middle East at the end of February has sent global energy prices soaring, reigniting inflation fears worldwide and depressing sentiment. Supply chains are also increasingly being disrupted. Asia has been particularly affected by the conflict, however, as the region relies heavily on the Gulf for much of its energy.