More Chinese banks cut deposit rates as margins shrink

AT least three nationwide Chinese banks lowered deposit rates, following a similar move by their smaller rivals last month as lenders battle shrinking margins.

Mid-sized national banks including China Zheshang Bank, Hengfeng Bank and China Bohai Bank said late on Thursday (May 4) they lowered deposit rates as much as 30 basis points on some tenors. After the adjustment, these lenders will pay an annual 1.85 per cent for one-year deposit, down from 1.95 per cent and pay 2.95 per cent on three-year and five-year deposits, down from 3.2 per cent and 3.25 per cent, respectively.

Chinese banks are under pressure to maintain profitability as policy makers are ramping up efforts to boost growth in the world’s second-largest economy. Earnings are being weighed down by falling rates and a government push for state lenders to provide cheap loans to small businesses and home buyers.

“The banking sector is still under big pressure from narrowing net interest margins in 2023,” said Wang Yifeng, a banking analyst at Everbright Securities. “Since the market-oriented interest rate adjustment mechanism has recently started to assess their pricing of deposit rates, it has become necessary for banks to manage the cost of their liabilities.”

The country’s benchmark one-year deposit rate for household savings is currently 1.5 per cent. Smaller banks still pay well above their larger rivals and the benchmark after the latest adjustment.

China’s biggest lenders, including Industrial mmercial Bank of China, delivered meager profit growth in the first quarter of 2023 as they wrestled with shrinking margins and the lingering economic impact of China’s exit from Covid zero.

Commercial banks’ profit growth has been slowing as falling interest rates squeeze margins and lenders set aside more provisions in anticipation of more bad loans, China’s banking regulator said in a statement in April.

While banks have also been lowering deposit rates, they need to balance profitability with the need to keep liabilities stable, the watchdog said. BLOOMBERG