(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-21 19:30

China will raise one-year deposit and loan interest rates by 27 basis points to 3.60 percent and 7.02 percent respectively as of August 22, the central bank announced on Tuesday.

This is the fourth time that China has raised the one-year benchmark interest rates this year, only one month after the last rise on July 21.

The move aims to properly control the credit growth and to curb the hovering risks for inflation, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement on its website.

The consumer price index (CPI), the main gauge of inflation, in July rose by 5.6 percent from the same month of last year, after a year-on-year growth of 4.4 percent in June. Both are well above the government's target of 3 percent for 2007.

China raised the one-year deposit and loan interest rate by 27 basis points in March, by 27 and 18 basis points respectively in May and by 27 basis points in July.