KBND - PBOC Held Rates Steady In March
2024-03-15 05:05:00 ET
Summary
- The PBOC held the 1-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) rate at 2.5% in March.
- The PBOC remains on a dovish tilt, but depreciation pressure on the RMB limits room for monetary easing in China before global central banks start to cut rates.
- The PBOC will likely time its rate cuts carefully to support a broader supportive policy push in the upcoming months.
By Lynn Song
PBOC stood pat in March
The People's Bank of China (PBOC) kept the 1-year Medium-term Lending Facility (MLF) rate unchanged at 2.5%, in line with expectations. Typically, the MLF decision is a precursor for the Loan Prime Rate (LPR) decision to follow. Last month proved an exception as we saw the 5-year rate cut while the 1-year rate was left unchanged, the first time on record we saw an asymmetric rate cut where the 5-year rate was cut instead of the 1-year rate....
PBOC Held Rates Steady In March