The loan prime rate (LPR), normally charged to banks' most creditworthy clients, is calculated each month after 20 designated commercial banks submit proposed rates to the ​People's Bank of China (PBOC).

In a Reuters survey of 25 market participants ​conducted this week, all respondents predicted that at the next ⁠review on Thursday, the one-year and five-year LPRs would remain unchanged ​at 3.00% and 3.50%, respectively.

The strong market expectation of a steady LPR ​fixing comes despite a string of July data, ranging from industrial output and retail sales to credit lending, showing weak domestic demand in the world's second-largest economy.

Analysts said policymakers ​are more likely to lean on faster fiscal implementation in the near ​term to support growth than resort to further monetary easing.

"Focus should remain on fiscal ‌policies ⁠with little sign for an outright LPR cut from the PBOC this month," Citi analysts said in a note.

China's leaders pledged at July's Politburo meeting to support the slowing economy by accelerating fiscal spending on already-budgeted ​infrastructure projects for the ​remainder of ⁠the year, rather than planning major new stimulus measures.

The central bank said last week it would maintain an appropriately ​loose monetary stance and roll out practical, effective measures ​as needed, ⁠but stopped short of signaling explicit cuts to policy rates or banks' reserve-requirement ratio.

Commercial banks' net interest margin (NIM), a key measure of the sector's ⁠health, edged ​up 0.01 percentage point to 1.41% in ​the second quarter from end-March, marking the first quarterly increase since 2022, although it remained ​close to a record low.