China cuts bank reserve ratio requirement
BEIJING (AFP) - China's central bank announced Sunday it would cut the level of funds that commercial banks must hold in reserve by one percentage point, the second such move this year to boost lending.
The move, effective Monday, comes days after the world's second largest economy reported its worst quarterly growth figure for six years.
In a statement on its website, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) said it will give an additional one-percentage-point RRR cut to banks for agricultural services and a further two-percentage-point cut to the Agricultural Development Bank of China.
It will also give a 0.5 percent cut to certain banks that give agricultural or small-business loans.
The cuts will "further enhance the ability of financial institutions to support restructuring," the PBoC said.
The reduction in the reserve requirement ratio (RRR) -- the amount of cash banks must keep on hand -- follows a similar move in early February, which was the first across-the-board cut since May 2012.
Helen Qiao, greater China economist at Morgan Stanley, told Bloomberg News that the latest cut was "warranted given the sharp slowdown".
"The move is positive, showing policymakers are trying to offset the impact of potential capital outflow and stabilise the macro environment," Qiao said, adding that the cut "shows the intensification of policy easing".
China's gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 7.0 percent in the first quarter from 7.3 percent in the final three months of last year, marking the worst result in six years.
Growth in industrial output and retail sales slowed in March, while the figure for fixed asset investment also weakened in the first three months of the year, raising expectations of further efforts to shore up the economy.
Reducing the RRR is a stimulatory measure as it increases the amount of money banks can lend out and thus helps to boost economic activity.
Besides the RRR cuts, the central bank has lowered benchmark interest rates twice since November as the Asian giant's economic growth slowed last year to a 24-year low.
