Bank of Communications, one of the top five banks on the Chinese mainland, forecast two to three interest rate cuts for 2009.

The bank said on Saturday the central bank would cut rate by 54 to 81 basis points next year. Although commercial banks would see a profit rise of 40 to 50 percent in 2008, they could hardly have positive net profits next year.

The 2009 growth would mainly come from the spread between deposits and loans and intermediary businesses, while the reduced spread and changes in the assets quality would have a negative impact on commercial bank's profits.