Financial experts are still waiting to see the effects of the recent hike in benchmark loan rate, said a senior official with the People's Bank of China (PBC) on Tuesday.

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of China's central bank, told a seminar on financial infrastructures that another rise of interest rates is not on the agenda.

As financial data for May has not yet available, it's not known whether the loan rate hike has had its desired effect, he said.

China announced a 0.27 percentage points hike in the benchmark one-year loan interest rate on April 28 as part of its efforts to curb an investment binge and prevent economic overheating.

The PBC's first quarter monetary report released last week said more attention should be paid to such problems as ever-increasing investment in fixed assets, unbalanced foreign trade structures, and risks from an unbalanced global economy.

(Xinhua News Agency June 7, 2006)