The People's Bank of China (PBOC) allowed its one-year Medium-Term Lending Facility (MLF) rate to drop to a record low of 1.45% in May from 1.5% in April, according to details from recent banking auctions, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.
A number of commercial banks tapped the central bank at this historically low rate, signaling that Beijing is stepping up efforts to keep a less buoyant economy afloat, the report said.
The 5-basis-point drop follows an identical reduction to the MLF rate earlier in January, Bloomberg said.
It remains unclear how much of the 600 billion yuan in MLF loans issued in May was priced at the new 1.45% low, the news outlet said.
China's central bank halted the publication of uniform MLF data since March 2025 following a revision of its pricing rules. Under the restructured framework, individual lenders are instead required to bid for and pay varying rates based on institutional market demand.
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