PBOC cuts rates for sixth time since November

Beijing

CHINA'S central bank cut interest rates for the sixth time since November on Friday, and it again lowered the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves in another attempt to jumpstart a slowing economy.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on its website that it was lowering the one-year benchmark bank lending rate by 25 basis points to 4.35 per cent, effective from Oct 24. The benchmark deposit rate would be lowered by the same amount, to 1.5 per cent. The reserve requirement ratio or RRR will also be cut by 50 basis points for all banks, taking the ratio to 17.5 per cent for the country's biggest lenders, the PBOC said.