prime rate

noun

Definition of prime rate

: an interest rate formally announced by a bank to be the lowest available at a particular time to its most credit-worthy customers

— called also prime interest rate

Examples of prime rate in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web The move in the loan prime rate -- a market indicator of the price that lenders charge corporates and households for loans -- was limited by the lack of a policy interest-rate cuts since February. — Bloomberg.com, "China Banks Unexpectedly Keep Benchmark Loan Rate Unchanged," 29 Apr. 2020 The prime rate was recently 3.25%, down from 5.5% a year earlier. — Dallas News, "Motley Fool: Playing defense in a pandemic and this week’s trivia," 19 Apr. 2020 Credit cards Credit card rates are typically tied to the prime rate, which is affected by the Fed's benchmark rate. — Jessica Menton, USA TODAY, "Here's how the Fed's surprise interest-rate cut affects mortgages, credit cards and home equity lines," 4 Mar. 2020 There are, to name the main contenders, the one-year deposit rate (now 1.5%), the seven-day reverse-repurchase rate (known as the DR007, 2.2%), the medium-term lending facility (MLF, 3.15%) and the one-year loan prime rate (LPR, 4.05%). — The Economist, "Free exchange What China’s interest-rate muddle says about its financial system," 2 Apr. 2020 The central bank cut the prime rate for loans by five basis points to 4.2%. — Fortune, "Time is Running Out for a U.S.-China Trade Deal," 21 Sep. 2019 The Bank of Thailand cut the prime rate to a record low 1% from 1.25% on Wednesday to help the economy weather a series of setbacks. — Washington Post, "Asian economies cut rates, move to blunt impact of virus," 6 Feb. 2020 The problem stemmed from the fact that the prime rate started going up in late 2015 and had actually increased by 2 full percentage points as of this past summer. — cleveland, "Variable-rate equity loan requires monitoring to avoid fees: Money Matters," 27 Oct. 2019 As anticipated, China’s central bank reduced its 1-year loan prime rate to 4.2% from 4.25%, slightly easing monetary conditions. — San Diego Union-Tribune, "Asian shares mostly higher as China cuts loan rate," 19 Sep. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'prime rate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.