According to the statistics of the People's Bank of China, the total amount of social deposits fell abnormally in April. In fact, there is also a background to the decline in social deposits: since the beginning of this year, a number of commercial banks have successively lowered their deposit interest rates, and it is speculated that a new round of deposit benchmark interest rate cuts may be put on the agenda. Leaving aside the report of the central bank, commercial banks have basically stopped selling the so-called large-denomination certificates of deposit products, and according to the survey, it is difficult to find large-denomination certificates of deposit with a maturity of 5 years, and the maturity of many large-denomination certificates of deposit is concentrated within two years.
By the end of 2023, according to the statistics of a private institution, the net interest margin of China's commercial banking industry as a whole has dropped to 1.69%. It is said that it has fallen below the industry warning limit of 1.8%, and it is not yet known how this warning line was determined, but it is the lowest time in history when the net interest margin of banks is currently low. It is important to know that China's commercial banks mainly rely on the difference between deposit and loan interest rates to make money, and the current sluggish domestic price index is also a favorable condition for the current deposit interest rate reduction.