On Monday, China’s central bank cut its benchmark interest rate to boost sluggish economic growth caused by anti-coronavirus efforts.
Following the release of government statistics showing slow manufacturing output and retail sales in July 2022, Chinas central bank dropped the one-year loan rate to 2.75 percent from 2.85 percent and poured an additional 400 billion yuan ($60 billion) into lending markets.
The Communist Party of China effectively admitted last month that it would be unable to meet this year’s official growth target of 5. 5 percent due to restrictions imposed to combat the Corona pandemic, which disrupted trade, manufacturing, and consumer spending, and a crackdown on corporate debt, which caused a drop in activity in the vast real estate sector.
Despite the negative impact on growth, party authorities reiterated their adherence to the zero COVID policy in a statement issued on July 29, 2022, abandoning prior references to growth objectives after the economy expanded by just 2.5% in the first half of 2022.
China cuts interest rates to aid the country’s struggling economy.
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