China cuts main interest rate 0.25%

China cuts main interest rate 0.25% China has cut interest rates by 25 basis points, its strongest move yet to prop up the economy as growth weakens.
The benchmark one-year lending rate is now 6.31 per cent, while the one-year deposit rate is 3.25 per cent.
It is the first time that the Chinese central bank has reduced rates since 2008. Just a couple of months ago, few analysts had forecast that Beijing would cut rates, believing that China was on track for a ‘soft landing’.
But after growth slowed to 8.1 per cent in the first quarter, recent data showed the economy was on track for a sharper deceleration.

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