The People’s Bank of China will reduce the one-year lending rate 0.25 percentage point to 5.1 percent, and cut the one-year deposit rate by the same amount to 2.25 percent, effective Monday, the central bank said on its website Sunday. In another step to free up interest rates, the central bank will also raise the limit on what banks can pay savers.
Inflation remained subdued and exports and imports both slid in April -- underscoring the economy’s struggle to match Premier Li Keqiang’s 2015 growth target of about 7 percent. With capital flowing abroad and local governments embroiled in a complex debt cleanup, economists anticipate further easing.
The latest interest-rate reduction adds to China’s own steps and that of at least 30 countries that have loosened monetary policy this year as lower commodity prices give room to stimulate. It also illustrates a divergence of policy direction between the world’s two biggest economies, with analysts forecasting the U.S. Federal Reserve will lift borrowing costs later this year for the first time since 2006.
Sumber : ewfpro.com
