China further frees interest rate

BEIJING - China's central bank said Friday it will further liberate lending interest rates for financial institutions so they can decide the rates themselves from Saturday.

The floor limit for lending interest rates will be canceled and the financial institutions can decide their own rates following commercial principles, said a People's Bank of China statement.

Controls on bill discount rates will be scrapped and the ceiling limit for lending from rural banks will be eliminated. But the lending interest rates for personal homes will not be adjusted for the healthy growth of the property market.

Lifting controls on lending interest rates can help cut costs for enterprises in raising funds and it can also optimize financial resources to boost the real economy and economic restructuring, the statement said.

An employee counts Chinese 100 yuan banknotes at a branch of Bank of Communications in Shenyang, Liaoning province in this July 6, 2012 file picture. China's central bank announced long-awaited interest rate reforms on July 19, 2013, scrapping the previous floor on the rates that banks charge clients for loans. Picture taken July 6, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]