China holds lending rates for a fifth consecutive month in October

China's central bank on Monday left its key lending rates unchanged, as expected, following the latest meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee.

The People's Bank of China kept its one-year loan prime rate unchanged at 3.0% and the five-year LPR at 3.5%, a decision that matched the consensus forecast cited by FXStreet.

The central bank last revised rates in May, when it trimmed the one-year and five-year LPR's by 10 basis points from 3.1% and 3.6%, respectively.

Lynn Song, ING chief economist, Greater China, said: "Loan prime rates remained unchanged in October as expected...However, soft inflation and loans data combined with the slowdown of activity indicators still suggest that the case remains solid for further monetary easing.

"An unfavourable outcome from the US-China talks could expedite monetary easing, while any upside surprises could further reduce the urgency for policy support. We still have one 10bp rate and 50bp reserve-requirement ratio (RRR) cut pencilled in for this year."