Several small and medium-sized banks have lowered their medium- and long-term deposit interest rates to the "1% range."

People’s Financial News, March 19 — Since March, many city commercial banks, rural commercial banks, and village banks have consecutively lowered their fixed deposit interest rates. The interest rates for 2-year, 3-year, and 5-year fixed deposits at small and medium-sized banks have generally fallen below 2%, officially entering the “single-digit” era. Luo Feipeng, a researcher at China Postal Savings Bank, analyzed in an interview that this is mainly due to the narrowing of net interest margins and the continued decline in loan interest rates. It also reflects that the banking industry has entered a stage of refined liability management, guiding funds toward medium- and short-term through inverted interest rates. At the same time, this marks an acceleration in the marketization of deposit interest rates, with small and medium-sized banks shifting from extensive deposit gathering to differentiated competition. (Securities Daily)