SHANGHAISINGAPORE, Dec 20 Reuters China stood pat on benchmark lending rates at the monthly fixing on Wednesday, matching market expectations, after the central bank kept its mediumterm policy rate steady earlier last week.

But market watchers continued to expect Beijing to deliver further monetary easing into the new year to support a sputtering economic recovery as deflationary pressure push up real borrowing costs.

The oneyear loan prime rate LPR was kept at 3.45, while the fiveyear LPR was unchanged at 4.20.

Most new and outstanding loans in the world39;s secondlargest economy are based on the oneyear LPR, which stands at 3.45. It was lowered twice by a total of 20 basis points in 2023.

The fiveyear rate influences the pricing of mortgages and is 4.20 now. It was lowered by 10 basis points so far this year.

In a Reuters survey of 28 market watchers conducted this week, all participants predicted no change in either the oneyear or fiveyear LPR.

The steady fixings came after the central bank kept its mediumterm policy rate unchanged, and the oneyear LPR is loosely pegged to the mediumterm lending facility MLF rate.

Market participants typically see changes in the MLF as a precursor to changes in the LPR.

The People39;s Bank of China PBOC ramped up liquidity injections through mediumterm policy loans last week, while keeping the interest rate unchanged.

The central bank injected a net 800 billion yuan 112.22 billion of fresh funds into the banking system through…