PBoC: The transformation of the monetary policy framework is a gradual and continuous process, and the People's Bank of China will continue to carry out assessments and improvements in the future.

Title context: Text: Pan Gongsheng, Governor of the People's Bank of China, stated at the 2026 Financial Street Forum Annual Meeting that the transformation of the monetary policy framework is a gradual and continuous process, and the People's Bank of China will continue to conduct assessments and make improvements in the future. From a near- to medium-term perspective, the key direction is to give greater play to the role of interest rate regulation, mainly in the following aspects: First, further optimize the short-end interest rate regulation mechanism. The interbank overnight repo rate, commonly referred to as DR001, as the most benchmark rate in the money market with active trading, can sensitively reflect short-term funding supply and demand conditions, and its operation has become more stable in recent years. Judging from the current situation, the interbank overnight repo rate has in effect become the target rate for the central bank's monetary policy regulation; however, at the same time, the maturity of the main varieties of the central bank's open market operations and the main policy rate remains 7 days, and the two are not fully consistent. In order to further improve the precision of interest rate regulation, the People's Bank of China will study the appropriate timing to switch the maturity of the central bank's main open market operation varieties to overnight, and the open market overnight repo rate will accordingly become the main policy rate. Second, promote the reform of the loan interest rate pricing benchmark, transitioning from relatively single reference to the Loan Prime Rate for pricing to a more diversified pricing benchmark. In the future, as the diversified loan pricing benchmarks are continuously improved, some enterprises with strong financial capabilities may, after consultation with financial institutions, independently choose the interbank overnight repo rate or the Loan Prime Rate as the pricing benchmark for floating-rate loans, and the Loan Prime Rate may continue to play a role as the pricing benchmark for small enterprise and personal loans. The interbank overnight repo rate may also be considered as an option for the pricing benchmark of bonds and financial derivatives. The People's Bank of China will issue policy guidelines at an appropriate time to guide financial institutions in carrying out the relevant work. At the same time, it will also continue to reform and improve the quotation mechanism of the Loan Prime Rate and enhance the quality of quotations. Third, exit the benchmark deposit and lending rates. With the advancement of interest rate marketization reform, the benchmark deposit and lending rates have been gradually replaced by market-based pricing benchmarks. Bank loan interest rates already have multiple pricing benchmarks such as the Loan Prime Rate and the interbank overnight repo rate; since the beginning of the first quarter of this year, the People's Bank of China has publicly released the average deposit interest rates for various maturities as a reference for bank deposit pricing. Next, the People's Bank of China will promote the replacement of the interest calculation basis in these areas with market-based interest rate indicators, achieving the exit of the benchmark deposit and lending rates for financial institutions.