The Zhitong Finance App learned that on September 29, the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China, and the General Financial Supervisory Authority issued a notice on implementing interest rate discount policies for residents' home purchase loans. Among them, it was mentioned that households that take out loans to purchase commercial housing and meet the following conditions can enjoy the central government's interest rate discount policy support. The policy will be implemented on October 1, 2026. The implementation period is tentatively set for 1 year. During this period, the managing bank will issue a new commercial personal housing loan for the first eligible home. The financial department will provide interest rate discount support of 1 percentage point annualized for a period of not more than 5 years based on the loan principal amount. The maximum loan size that a single household can enjoy at interest rates is 1 million yuan. Interest rate discount funds are borne by central finance and local finance at 90% and 10% respectively. Among them, the financial sharing ratio at the provincial level and below is determined independently by the provincial finance department, taking into account actual conditions.
Furthermore, the Ministry of Finance, together with the General Administration of Financial Supervision, organized joint spot checks with the various supervisory bureaus of the Ministry of Finance and the various supervisory bureaus of the General Financial Supervisory Authority in due course, and discovered that interest rate discount funds were withdrawn through illegal operations. Banks that conspire with customers to carry out illegal operations are strictly held responsible. If the circumstances are serious, they cannot continue to operate related interest rate discount services.
The original text is as follows:
Notice on implementing interest rate discount policies for residents' home purchase loans
Finance [2026] No. 95
Finance departments (bureaus) of the provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and planned separate municipalities; the Finance Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps; the Shanghai headquarters of the People's Bank of China; branches of the provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and planned separate cities; financial supervisory authorities; and relevant financial institutions:
In order to thoroughly implement the relevant decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, and by strengthening fiscal and financial policy coordination to support the rigid housing needs of urban and rural residents, it was decided to implement a nationwide interest rate discount policy for residents' home purchase loans to reduce the burden of commercial personal housing loan interest on newly purchased households. The relevant matters are hereby notified as follows:
I. Policy content
(1) Support target. Residential households that take out loans to purchase commercial housing and meet the following conditions can enjoy the central government's interest rate discount policy support:
1. Use a newly issued commercial personal housing loan to buy the first home, excluding the use of a newly issued commercial personal housing loan to replace the stock loan;
2. The purchased housing has a floor area of less than 120 square meters (including 120 square meters);
3. The price of the purchased housing is less than 1.5 million yuan (including 1.5 million yuan).
(2) Interest rate discount standards. The policy will be implemented on October 1, 2026. The implementation period is tentatively set for 1 year. During this period, the managing bank will issue a new commercial personal housing loan for the first eligible home. The financial department will provide interest rate discount support of 1 percentage point annualized for a period of not more than 5 years based on the loan principal amount. The maximum loan size that a single household can enjoy at interest rates is 1 million yuan.
(3) Sharing ratio. Interest rate discount funds are borne by central finance and local finance at 90% and 10%, respectively. Among them, the financial sharing ratio at the provincial level and below is determined independently by the provincial finance department, taking into account actual conditions.
(4) Managing banks. Banks that carry out commercial personal housing loan services can handle interest rate discount services for residential home purchase loans in accordance with policy regulations.
II. Fund Management
(1) Working mechanism. Interest rate discount funds are disbursed using the “advance disbursement+settlement” method. Provincial finance departments connect with provincial branches of national banks, local corporate bank heads, private bank headquarters, and domestic headquarters of foreign banks (hereinafter collectively referred to as the provincial bank managing banks) to establish a “province to province” working mechanism, shorten the work chain, and efficiently carry out various tasks such as advance allocation, review, settlement, and liquidation of interest rate discount funds. If the managing bank does not have a provincial branch, the headquarters is connected to the provincial finance department of the place of registration.
(2) Operation process. In the first month after the introduction of the policy and before the end of January of each year, the administrative bank submits an application for interest rate discount funds for the current year to the local provincial finance department. Provincial finance departments summarize and report to the Ministry of Finance the second month after the policy was introduced and submitted to the Ministry of Finance by the managing banks and provincial banks before the end of February every year. According to the annual budget schedule, the Ministry of Finance pre-allocates central financial interest rate discount funds to provincial finance departments, and provincial finance departments organize local interest rate discount fund guarantees. Based on the implementation of the policy, the Ministry of Finance, the provincial finance department, and the provincial finance department and the provincial bank that managed the bank separately settled the interest rate discount funds. After the interest rate discount period expires, the financial department clears the interest rate discount funds with the managing bank.
III. Organization and implementation
(1) Compacting principal responsibilities. The managing bank takes into account relevant circumstances such as online signing and filing and housing sales contracts; strictly carries out loan review duties and does a good job in loan fund fiduciary payments, classification statistics, data monitoring, etc.; establishes a reporting and statistics system to report loan disbursements and the use of interest rate discount funds to the Ministry of Finance and provincial finance departments on a monthly basis, with copies to the People's Bank of China and the General Administration of Financial Supervision; when signing the loan contract, it informs the relevant interest rate discount amount in an appropriate manner to ensure that borrowers are aware of the content of the policy;, achieve “exemption” “Enjoy now” and inform borrowers about how they enjoy national policies through SMS, app messages, etc.
(2) Strengthen coordination among all parties. The Ministry of Finance takes the lead in organizing implementation, managing budgets, and strengthening supervision of the use of funds. The financial administration department does a good job in real estate credit management according to the division of responsibilities, and guides and supervises the managing banks to carry out loan issuance and interest rate discounts in accordance with the law. Provincial branches of the People's Bank of China share the implementation status of relevant policies with provincial finance departments to strengthen coordination and linkage between monetary policy and fiscal policy.
(3) Strengthen joint supervision. The Ministry of Finance, together with the General Administration of Financial Supervision, organized joint spot checks with the various supervisory bureaus of the Ministry of Finance and the various supervisory bureaus of the General Financial Supervisory Authority in due course. It was discovered that interest rate discount funds were withdrawn through illegal operations to obtain interest rate discounts by fraud. Banks that conspire with customers to carry out illegal operations are strictly held responsible. If the circumstances are serious, they cannot continue to operate related interest rate discount services.
Ministry of Finance, People's Bank of China Financial Supervisory Authority
September 29, 2026
Relevant officials from the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China, and the General Financial Supervisory Authority
Implement an interest rate discount policy for residents' home purchase loans to answer reporters' questions
On September 29, the Ministry of Finance, together with the People's Bank of China and the General Financial Supervisory Administration, issued the “Notice on Implementing Interest Rate Discount Policies for Residential Home Purchase Loans” (Finance [2026] No. 95). Relevant officials from the Ministry of Finance, the People's Bank of China, and the General Financial Supervisory Administration answered questions from reporters.
1. Please introduce the background and significance of the introduction of the policy?
The housing issue is related to people's livelihood and welfare. The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to it, and have put forward clear requirements for residents' housing work many times. In recent years, the Ministry of Finance and relevant parties have played a combo punch on the supply side, including measures such as supporting the issuance of new special bonds for land reserves and supporting local purchases of existing commercial housing for affordable housing, to improve supply and benefit people's livelihood. This is the first time that the central financial administration is offering interest rates on commercial personal housing loans for groups with relatively low incomes, further opening up room for policy strength on the demand side: by strengthening fiscal and financial coordination, giving full play to the role of fiscal guidance, financial expansion, and market operation mechanisms to better support and release the rigid housing needs of urban and rural residents, it actually helps new citizens such as workers entering the city, young people such as newly employed college students, and urban wage earners to reduce costs and burdens, and help more people live comfortably. On the basis of in-depth research, the Ministry of Finance, together with the People's Bank of China, the General Administration of Financial Supervision and other departments, formed policy plans.
2. What are the main elements of the policy?
The central financial administration's implementation of an interest rate discount policy for residents' housing loans is an exploration of ways to guarantee and improve people's livelihood in the housing sector. By defining the total price of housing, housing area, loan types, etc., it benefits target groups as accurately as possible, and helps families with relatively low income preparing to buy the most ordinary house “reduce monthly payments.”
First, focus on the first home they need, and focus on supporting ordinary households to buy new small to medium housing units at lower prices. Limited financial resources are mainly used to benefit more needy groups, and interest rate support is provided to households that meet the following conditions at the same time: First, use newly issued commercial personal housing loans to buy their first home, excluding stock loan replacements. Among them, the certification of “first housing” is carried out in accordance with the current policy, and includes both new and second-hand housing. Second, the construction area of the purchased house is no more than 120 square meters. Third, the price of the purchased housing is no more than 1.5 million yuan. The above conditions are mainly focused on supporting the basic housing purchase needs of groups in need. Taking into account the varying income, housing area, price levels, etc. of residents in different cities, the central level can coordinate the benefits of people's livelihood, basic protection, broad coverage, promotion of fairness and financial resources, and strive for balance throughout the country. The state already has relevant policy support for groups that use loans to buy affordable housing and use provident fund loans to buy homes, and this time they are not receiving combined policy support.
Second, interest rates are discounted by 1 percentage point to reduce the cost of interest on residents' loans to buy homes. The maximum loan size that can enjoy the interest rate discount is 1 million yuan. The financial department gives an annualized interest rate discount of 1 percentage point. According to the current interest rate level for commercial personal housing loans for the first housing unit, it is equivalent to a one-third discount of the interest rate, and the maximum interest rate discount period is 5 years. For example, for a long-term commercial personal housing loan of 1 million yuan, considering the monthly interest and repayment of most mortgages, the loan balance decreases month by month. The interest rate discount policy can help borrowers reduce interest payments by up to 50,000 yuan. The specific amount of interest discounts enjoyed by households varies depending on the size, term, and repayment method of the loan.
Third, it should be fully subsidized, and the full amount of financial interest rate discount funds should be guaranteed. The start date of the policy is October 1 of this year, and the policy implementation period is tentatively scheduled for 1 year. During this period, all eligible households can enjoy financial interest rate support. There is no upper limit on the total amount of funds being implemented. The budget has been fully arranged and settled according to the facts.
3. What are the specific implementation arrangements for the policy?
Interest rate discounts are an important fiscal and financial coordination policy tool. In recent years, we have guided local and financial institutions to continuously explore and optimize, improve working mechanisms for horizontal collaboration and vertical integration, and continuously improve the convenience of policy operation. This time, the organization implemented an interest rate discount policy for residential home purchase loans, focusing on the following aspects:
First, full coverage of operating banks makes it easy to “apply nearby” for loans. Considering the wide range of commercial personal housing loan businesses, in order to make it easier for the majority of households to borrow and enjoy them nearby, all banks that carry out commercial personal housing loan business can operate interest rate discount services for residents' home purchase loans in accordance with regulations.
Second, interest rate discounts are automatically delivered, so that ordinary people can “enjoy it with peace of mind”. Buyers apply for loans at the bank according to normal credit procedures, and only need to simultaneously authorize the bank to apply for interest discounts on their behalf when signing the loan contract. The bank automatically identifies eligible borrowers and automatically calculates and deducts the corresponding interest discount amount when receiving interest on a monthly basis. The borrower will repay the loan normally, and the interest rate discount will be directly reflected in the amount of each installment. Banks will promptly inform them of interest rate discounts through mobile phone text messages, app messages, etc., so that borrowers can “feel at ease.”
Third, the management chain is more streamlined to make the process “efficient”. If ordinary people want peace of mind, the organization and implementation must be smooth. Banks have grasped the factors of first housing certification, housing size, total housing price, and loan amount when approving loans. In order to simplify the operation process, the current policy is clear. The managing bank is responsible for reviewing interest rate discount eligibility, and the relevant departments organize joint spot checks in due course. The financial department takes the lead in organizing implementation, strengthening coordination and cooperation with managing banks to guarantee interest rate discount funds; the People's Bank of China and the General Administration of Financial Supervision do a good job in real estate credit management according to the division of responsibilities, strengthen coordination and linkage between monetary policy and fiscal policy, and guide and supervise managing banks to do a good job in issuing loans and cutting interest rates.
In the next step, we will closely follow the progress of policy implementation, strive for the easiest operation, reduce errands for the masses, promote the full release of policy effects, and benefit the public as soon as possible.
This article was selected from the “Ministry of Finance” official website, Zhitong Finance Editor: Liu Jiayin.