China kept the market-based benchmark lending rate unchanged in June, the central bank said on Monday, as the economy gradually recovers from the impact of COVID-19 outbreaks.

The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) stayed at 3.7 percent and the over-five-year LPR stood at 4.45 percent, following a record 15-basis points cut last month.

To support the COVID-hit economy and help the ailing housing sector, China cut the over-five-year LPR, on which many lenders base their mortgage rates, by 15 basis points to 4.45 percent in May, the largest reduction in this rate since the country revamped the LPR mechanism in 2019.

Other major economies are tightening rate policies, particularly the Federal Reserve with its 75 basis points hike to combat high inflation. Europe's central bank also raised interest rates last week.