Beijing (China), 7 May (LaPresse/AP) – China has cut interest rates and bank reserve requirements to help free up more funds for lending, as part of a series of measures to counter the impact of US President Donald Trump's trade war on its economy. The governor of the People's Bank of China (Pbco), Pan Gongsheng, said the interest rate charged to commercial banks will be reduced by 0.25 percentage points to 1.5 per cent. In addition, the rate on commercial banks' deposits with the central bank has been reduced from 1.5 per cent to 1.4 per cent and the reserve requirement ratio, i.e. the share of funds that banks must hold in their reserves, has been reduced by 0.5 per cent. Pan said this will free up 1 trillion yuan ($137.6 billion) of additional liquidity. The central bank also reduced interest rates on five-year real estate loans.
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