China leaves lending benchmarks unchanged for 11th month in April

SHANGHAI, April 20 (Reuters) - China ‌on Monday ​left ​benchmark loan prime rates (LPRs) unchanged for the 11th consecutive month in April, in line with market expectations.

WHY IT'S ‌IMPORTANT

Solid economic growth at the start of the year ⁠and a pick-up in inflation reduced the need for fresh monetary easing to ‌support the broader economy.

BY ‌THE NUMBERS

It kept the one-year LPR at 3.00% and five-year LPR at 3.50%.

In a Reuters survey of 20 market participants ​conducted last week, all participants predicted no change to either of the two rates.

CONTEXT

** The Chinese economy's 5.0% annual growth ⁠pace in the first quarter sits at the top of its full-year target range ​of 4.5%-5.0%, highlighting a resilience that sets it apart from much of Asia, helped by ample strategic oil ​reserves and a diversified energy mix.

** ‌China's factory-gate prices rose for the first time in more than three years in March, in ⁠an early sign that the war in Iran is feeding cost pressures into the world's second-largest economy.

KEY QUOTES

** DBS

"With no clear signs of ⁠a sharp slowdown and credit demand yet to recover meaningfully, policymakers are likely ​to stay with targeted easing rather than shift toward broad-based rate cuts."

** Societe Generale

"Despite the strong first-quarter GDP, policymakers are likely to refrain from further ‌easing at the late-April Politburo meeting, even amid the Middle East conflict.

"Under a contained conflict scenario ‌lasting only a few months, we do not expect additional fiscal ⁠stimulus this year and ‌see scope for just ​one People's Bank of China (PBOC) rate cut toward year-end."

(Reporting by Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Christopher Cushing and ‌Jacqueline Wong)

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