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China holds lending rates steady; cautious on weak yuan, capital outflow risk
China kept its benchmark lending rates unchanged for the ninth month in May on Monday (May 22), matching market expectations, as a weakening yuan and widening yield differentials with the United States limited the scope for any substantial monetary easing. A raft of data over the past month or so, including April indicators last week, pointed to an economy losing momentum after the initial post-COVID bounce and lifted hopes of more easing measures. But given capital outflow risks that could further hurt a sliding yuan, some analysts now expect the People's Bank of China (PBOC) could lower the amount of cash banks ... (full story)