China cuts benchmark interest rates

China's central bank cut its two key interest rates on Monday, lowering the one-year loan prime rate, a peg for corporate loans, from 3.45 percent to 3.35 percent, this marks the rate's first cut since August 2023. In a statement, the People's Bank of China mentioned that it also cut the five-year loan prime rate, which is used to price mortgages, from 3.95 percent to 3.85 percent, the first rate cut in five months. The rate cut was in line with market expectations, as authorities stepped up monetary support to shore up the economy, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. Last week, the Chinese government said that the country's economy expanded at a 4.7 percent annual rate in the second quarter, slower than the 5.3 percent growth in the first quarter. Source: Kuwait News Agency