Major banks maintain deposit interest rate

BEIJING - China's five major state-owned banks said Friday that their headquarters still maintain the deposit interest rate and surges reported on Thursday were individual cases by some branches for special clients or businesses.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, announced on June 7, 2012 that the upper limit of the floating band of deposit rates would be adjusted to 1.1 times the benchmark, or up 10 percent at most. Local commercial banks began lifting the deposit interest rate after the announcement.

Some reports in the past week have said that the country's banking giants have taken actions to raise the deposit interest rate by 10 percent to the upper limit.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and China Construction Bank (CCB) told Xinhua that their nominal interest rates haven't changed.

The Bank of China (BOC) said so far its deposit interest rates for different terms haven't hit the ceiling, and the rates can be checked on the bank's portal website.

The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) and the Bank of Communications said their headquarters hadn't changed the interest rates, but branches can regulate in accordance with special circumstances.

An unnamed source said the actions to lift deposit interest rates were triggered by fierce competition for deposits, which can help expand lending business.