Chinese authorities have asked the nation’s biggest banks to lower their deposit rates for at least the second time in less than a year in an effort to boost the economy, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
State-owned lenders including Bank of China, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and Bank of Communications were last week advised to cut rates on a range of products, the report said.
The banks were urged to cut rates on demand deposits by 5 basis points and three-year and five-year time deposits by at least 10 basis points, Bloomberg News reported.
The request was communicated through the central bank’s interest rate self-disciplinary mechanism, the report said, adding the banks are assessing the request and may adjust rates as early as this week, even though it is not mandatory.
China last month told its “big four” state-owned banks to reduce the ceiling on interest rates they pay on some deposits, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Several small and mid-sized banks in the country lowered their deposit interest rates in April, to help ease costs as loan demand remained tepid in the face of rising risks to growth.