Central banker says commercial banks need freer interest rates

China's commercial banks should "learn how to make their own decisions" on interest rate changes, Zhou Xiaochuan, the country's central banker, said Monday.

Addressing a high-level economic forum, he said the conditions for interest rate liberalization are "getting mature."

For many years, Chinese banks have offered depositors and borrowers fixed interest rates set by the central government.

Instead, commercial banks "should set interest rates in light of their judgment on business risks and ability of risk management," Zhou said.

The country has been pushing a freer interest rate decision mechanism. The People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, abolished the upper limit for loan rates and lower limit for deposit rates at commercial banks last October.

But Zhou said Monday the central bank hopes the process to "move quicker," and is actively prodding commercial banks to "head towards that direction."

The PBOC raised the benchmark lending and deposit interest rates by 0.27 percentage points last November -- the first hike in nearly a decade -- in a bid to contain inflation and overheating investment.

Zhou did not mention whether a further rate rise is possible this year though economists say the Chinese economy, registering a blistering 9.5 percent growth last year, should still be cooled down.