China’s central bank today cut a key interest rate and injected US$33 billion into financial markets in a bid to boost flagging growth in the world’s second-largest economy.
The medium-term lending facility (MLF) rate — the interest for one-year loans to financial institutions — was lowered 10 basis points to 2.65 per cent, the People’s Bank of China said in a statement.
Today’s move comes after the bank announced a surprise cut in a short-term interest rate earlier this week, which analysts said reflected growing concern about the state of the economy among Chinese policymakers.
Chinese authorities have announced a series of lacklustre economic indicators in recent months, pointing to a slowdown in the country’s post-Covid recovery.
Inflation rose only 0.2 per cent on-year in May, while factory activity contracted for the second consecutive month.
Beijing has kept interest rates low compared with other major economies, but the near-zero inflation highlights challenges faced by policymakers as they try to stimulate growth. — AFP
