The People's Bank of China authorizes the National Interbank Funding Center to announce on February 24, 2026 the Loan Market Quotation Rate (LPR): the 1-year LPR is 3.0%, and the 5-year and above LPR is 3.5%. The above LPR is valid until the next release of LPR. Both LPR terms remained unchanged from last month. According to expert analysis, since February, the policy interest rate (the central bank's 7-day reverse repo rate) has remained stable, which means that the pricing basis for LPR quotes in February has not changed, and to a large extent, it indicates that LPR quotes for that month will remain unchanged. In addition, despite the impact of the central bank's large-scale liquidity injection before the Spring Festival, major mid to long term market interest rates, including the yield to maturity of 1-year commercial bank (AAA rated) interbank certificates of deposit, have slightly declined recently. However, the latest data shows that by the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, the net interest margin of commercial banks will continue to be at its lowest level in history, and current quoting banks lack the motivation to actively lower their LPR quotes. The reporter learned that since June 2025, the LPR of two maturity varieties has remained unchanged for nine consecutive months. According to analysis, this is mainly influenced by factors such as unchanged pricing basis and low current interest rates. At the same time, in January 2026, the central bank launched a package of structural monetary policies to strengthen support for key areas and weak links of the national economy such as technological innovation and small and micro enterprises. All of these provide support for maintaining the stability of current monetary policy. (New Society)