Relevant officials from the Ministry of Finance, the People’s Bank of China, and the State Administration of Financial Supervision answered reporters’ questions on the implementation of the interest discount policy for residents’ home purchase loans.

On September 29, the Ministry of Finance, together with the People’s Bank of China and the State Administration of Financial Supervision, issued the “Notice on Implementing the Interest Discount Policy for Residential Home Purchase Loans” (Caijin [2026] No. 95). Relevant officials from the Ministry of Finance, the People’s Bank of China, and the State Administration of Financial Supervision answered reporters’ questions.

1. Please introduce the background and significance of the policy?

The housing issue is related to people’s livelihood and well-being. The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to it and have repeatedly put forward clear requirements for residents’ housing work. In recent years, the Ministry of Finance has teamed up with relevant parties to launch a combination of measures on the supply side, including supporting the issuance of new special bonds for land reserves and supporting local governments in acquiring existing commercial housing for use as affordable housing, to optimize supply and benefit people’s livelihood. For the first time, the central government has subsidized interest rates on commercial personal housing loans for some groups with relatively low incomes, further opening up room for policy efforts on the demand side: by strengthening fiscal and financial coordination, giving full play to the role of fiscal guidance, financial amplification, and market operation mechanisms, we can better support and release the rigid housing needs of urban and rural residents, and effectively help new citizens such as migrant workers, young people such as newly employed college students, and urban working-class families who just need to buy houses, to reduce costs and burdens, and help more people live in a place of residence. On the basis of in-depth research, the Ministry of Finance, together with the People’s Bank of China, the State Administration of Financial Supervision and other departments, formed a policy plan.

2. What are the main contents of the policy?

The central government’s policy of discounting interest rates for residents’ home purchase loans is an exploration of ways to protect and improve people’s livelihood in the housing field. By defining the total price of the house, the area of ​​the house, and the types of loans, it aims to benefit the target group as accurately as possible and help households with relatively low incomes who plan to buy the most ordinary houses to “reduce their monthly payments.”

First, focus on the immediate needs of the first home, and focus on supporting ordinary families to purchase new small and medium-sized, lower-priced housing. The main purpose is to use limited fiscal funds to benefit more groups in urgent need, and to provide interest discount support to households that meet the following conditions: First, use newly issued commercial personal housing loans to purchase first homes, excluding existing loan replacements. Among them, the identification of “first home” is implemented in accordance with current policies, including both new homes and second-hand homes. Second, the building area of ​​the purchased house does not exceed 120 square meters. Third, the price of the house purchased does not exceed 1.5 million yuan. The above-mentioned conditions are set mainly to focus on supporting the basic housing purchase needs of groups in urgent need. Taking into account the different income, housing area, price levels, etc. of residents in different cities, the central level coordinates to benefit people’s livelihood, ensure basic needs, wide coverage, promote fairness and financial possibilities, and strive to balance it across the country. For relevant groups who use loans to purchase affordable housing and provident fund loans to purchase houses, the state has relevant policy support, and this time they will not enjoy policy support at the same time.

Second, an interest discount of 1 percentage point will be provided to reduce the interest cost of residents’ loan purchases. The loan size that can enjoy discount interest is up to 1 million yuan, and the financial department will provide an annual discount of 1 percentage point. According to the current commercial personal housing loan interest rate for first homes, it is equivalent to one-third of the discounted interest rate, and the interest discount period can be up to 5 years. For example, for a long-term commercial personal housing loan of 1 million yuan, considering that most mortgages pay interest and repayment on a monthly basis, and the loan balance decreases month by month, the interest discount policy can help the borrower reduce the cumulative interest payment by up to nearly 50,000 yuan. The specific interest discount amount enjoyed by households varies depending on the loan size, term, repayment method, etc.

Third, the subsidy should be fully utilized and the fiscal subsidy funds should be fully guaranteed. The policy starting date is October 1 this year, and the policy implementation period is tentatively scheduled for one year. During this period, eligible households can enjoy fiscal interest discount support. There is no upper limit on the total scale of funds during implementation. The budget has been fully arranged and settlements are based on facts.

3. What arrangements are there for the specific implementation of the policy?

Interest discount is an important fiscal and financial coordination policy tool. In recent years, we have guided local and financial institutions to continue to explore and optimize, improve the working mechanism of horizontal collaboration and vertical integration, and continuously improve the convenience of policy operation. This time we organize and implement the interest discount policy for residents’ home purchase loans, focusing on the following aspects:

First, the handling banks provide full coverage, making it easy to apply for a loan “nearby”. Considering the wide range of commercial personal housing loan business points, in order to facilitate the residents’ families to borrow and enjoy nearby, all banks that carry out commercial personal housing loan business can handle the interest discount business for residents’ home purchase loans in accordance with regulations.

Second, discounts on interest rates are automatically available, allowing ordinary people to enjoy it with less worry. The home buyer applies for a loan at the bank according to normal credit procedures. When signing the loan contract, he only needs to authorize the bank to apply for interest discounts on his behalf. The bank automatically identifies eligible borrowers and automatically calculates and deducts the corresponding interest discount amount when collecting monthly interest. If the borrower repays the loan normally, the interest discount will be directly reflected in the repayment amount of each period. The bank will promptly inform the borrowers of the interest discount enjoyment status through mobile phone text messages, APP messages, etc., so that borrowers can “know what they are doing”.

Third, the management chain is streamlined to make the process more efficient. The people should have peace of mind, and the organization and implementation must be smooth. Banks have already mastered the factors such as the identification of the first home, the area of ​​the house, the total price of the house, and the loan amount when approving the loan. In order to simplify the operation process, the policy is clear this time. The handling bank is responsible for reviewing the interest discount qualifications, and the relevant departments organize joint spot checks in a timely manner. The financial department will take the lead in organizing and implementing the policy, strengthen coordination with handling banks, and guarantee interest discount funds; the People’s Bank of China and the State Administration of Financial Supervision will manage real estate credit according to their division of responsibilities, strengthen the coordination and linkage of monetary policy and fiscal policy, and guide and urge handling banks to do a good job in loan disbursement and interest discounts.