BEIJING -- China's central bank left benchmark lending rates unchanged on Friday even as it seeks to guide rates on existing mortgages lower to put more money in consumers' pockets.

The People's Bank of China kept the one-year loan prime rate -- the benchmark for corporate loans -- unchanged for the second consecutive month at 3.45%. The over-five-year rate, a peg for mortgages, stayed at 4.2%, where it has been since July.