■ On July 13, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on financial statistics for the first half of 2022. The meeting stated that the growth of loans to the household sector has slowed down, indicating that the repeated epidemics in the first half of the year will still have a certain impact on household consumption.

　　■ Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter noticed that in this context, many banks lowered the interest rate of consumer loans, and the interest rate of many banks' credit loan products was reduced to below 4%.

　　■ Zeng Gang, director of the Shanghai Finance and Development Laboratory, said that the reduction of interest rates on personal consumption loans will become a trend, which will help reduce the cost of consumer credit holders, promote the demand for consumer credit, and then promote consumption.

　　as low as 4%

　　Banks cut interest rates on consumer loans

　　According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, in May this year, the total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 406.4 billion yuan compared with April, and the year-on-year decline narrowed by 4.4 percentage points.

　　As demand picks up, many banks are developing consumer loans.

The reporter learned that in the second quarter of 2022, many banks will reduce the interest rate of consumer loans.

　　At present, the interest rate of the consumer loan products of the four major banks has been reduced to 4%. For users who meet the standards, the annualized interest rate of Agricultural Bank of China's online fast loan is as low as 3.7%, the annualized interest rate of CCB's fast loan is the lowest of 4%, and the annualized interest rate of ICBC e-borrowing is as low as 4%. The lowest interest rate is 3.75%, and the lowest annualized interest rate of Bank of China e-Loan is 3.9%.

　　The person in charge of a branch of Bank of China told reporters that at present, the annualized interest rate of Bank of China’s offline consumer loan product, Xianzhidai, is at a minimum of 3.9%. "

　　Other banks have also launched interest rate discounts, time-limited discounts and other activities to reduce the interest rate of consumer loans. For example, China Merchants Bank launched a 7.8% discount on flash loans, with a minimum annual interest rate of 3.95%; as low as 3.96%.

　　However, not everyone can enjoy low-interest consumer loans. ICBC staff told reporters that ICBC's e-borrowing implements differentiated pricing. Different branches in different regions have different interest rate standards, and the lender's personal situation will also affect the interest rate.

"It's usually 6%, and recently there's a 3.99% interest rate discount, but not everyone can apply for it."

The one-year interest rate of 3.75% is limited to high-quality customers in Beijing.

　　The staff of China Merchants Bank also said that the interest rate of China Merchants Bank's consumer loan has no specific range, and everyone is different. "Some customers will face very high interest rates, even as high as 10% or more."

　　Consumer loans usher in a rebound

　　Expert: Personal consumption loan interest rate cut will become a trend

　　In fact, from the beginning of 2022, lending rates will begin to gradually decrease.

　　According to data released by the central bank, on December 20, 2021, the one-year LPR was 3.8%, and the 5-year LPR was 4.65%.

In January 2022, the 1-year LPR will drop to 3.7%, and the 5-year LPR will drop to 4.6%.

In May, the LPR for more than 5 years fell to 4.45% again, and the LPR for 1 year remained unchanged.

　　In addition, according to the statistical report on the loan investment of financial institutions in the first quarter of 2022, in March this year, the interest rate of other consumer loans issued to households was 7.68%, which was 67 and 41 basis points lower than the beginning of the year and the same period of the previous year, respectively.

　　As interest rates fell, consumer loan data gradually picked up.

　　In the first quarter of 2022, household loans in domestic and foreign currencies increased by 1.26 trillion yuan, but other household loans (excluding personal housing loans) decreased by 150.2 billion yuan; in April, household loans decreased by 217 billion yuan, of which consumer loans decreased by 104.4 billion yuan .

In May, household loans "turned positive", an increase of 288.8 billion yuan.

　　On July 13, the State Council Information Office held a press conference on financial statistics for the first half of 2022. Ruan Jianhong, director of the Investigation and Statistics Department of the People's Bank of China, said that in the first half of the year, household loans increased by 2.18 trillion yuan, of which consumer loans increased by 646.8 billion yuan.

　　This means that in May and June, consumer loans increased significantly.

Zeng Gang, director of the Shanghai Finance and Development Laboratory, told reporters: "The vigorous development of consumer credit will help to achieve stable growth and consumption through credit, and will promote the operation of the entire economy. The downward trend of personal consumption loan interest rates will help Reducing the cost of consumer credit holders, boosting the demand for consumer credit, and then promoting consumption will be of great benefit to the steady growth of the economy."

　　Regarding the future interest rate trend, Zeng Gang said: "In principle, there may not be a significant downside. The overall domestic interest rate level will still maintain a certain downward trend, but there will be no significant decline in the short term."

　　Zeng Gang also believes that loans are a double-edged sword, and the appropriateness of product access must be considered.

In the marketing process, it is necessary to improve transparency, prohibit excessive inducement of consumers, and at the same time set certain access thresholds to promote rationalization of pricing to protect the interests of consumers.

　　Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News reporter Yu Yao Tao Yueyang