Bloomberg with a quickie on a piece in the China Securities Journal today
The Journal says the rate hike for the medium term lending facility (MLF) shows that risk control is a focus
Mike had the headlines on the hike during the London morning (which is the afternoon in Beijing) Tuesday:
- PBOC reported to have raised 1-year MLF to 3.1% today
- PBOC confirms it has raised rates for 6/12 month MLF issues
If you'd like a bit more detail, Bloomberg and Reuters did a recap, the Bloomberg piece is wider-ranging and will provide a bit of background (if you're after that) on what's going on with lending in China right now:
- China's central bank increased the interest rates on medium-term loans that it uses to manage liquidity
- A move analysts say signals its intent to keep a tight rein on leverage in the financial system
- Policy makers are trying to strike a balance between avoiding excess credit that fuels asset bubbles and keeping enough funding in the financial system amid surging seasonal demand before the start of the Lunar New Year holiday this week
- The PBOC is raising rates while injecting a record amount of liquidity to avoid sending an easing signal
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The China Securities Journal is a national securities newspaper
- Its run out Xinhua News Agency
- As such, its pretty much a mouthpiece for officialdom. Not that there is anything wrong with that, the message being conveyed in the piece is the message the PBOC would like to convey... that they would like to control credit in the system.