The one-year loan prime rate was cut to 3.65% from 3.7%, the first reduction since January, and lower than the 10 basis-point drop that economists had expected. The five-year rate, a reference for mortgages, was reduced by 15 basis points to 4.3% after being“Asymmetric rate cuts underline the urgency of containing the worsening real estate crisis,” said Tommy Xie, head of Greater China research at Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp.
Banks are flush with cash, but are either unwilling or finding it difficult to finance projects. Credit demand weakened sharply in July, prompting some economists to warn of a “