China’s central bank on Friday announced looser controls on bank lending as the government attempts to rebalance the economy and stabilise slowing growth.
The People’s Bank of China said it would remove a required minimum interest rate for state-run commercial banks from Saturday, allowing the banks to set more competitive interest rates for loans by “following commercial principles.”
The change does not apply to housing mortgages or to interest rates paid on deposits.
The new measure is one of several expected this year aimed at boosting domestic consumption and restructuring the world’s second-largest economy away from its long reliance on exports and investment in infrastructure.