China resorts to interest rate cuts as data shows 'alarming' slowdown

China’s central bank unexpectedly cut its key interest rates as it ramps up support for an economy weighed by Covid lockdowns and a deepening property downturn. 

Bond yields slumped after the People’s Bank of China lowered the rate on its one-year policy loans by 10 basis points to 2.75% and the seven-day reverse repo rate to 2% from 2.1%. All 20 economists polled by Bloomberg had forecast the rate on the one-year medium-term lending facility would be left unchanged. 

 

The need for additional stimulus was underscored shortly after the surprise central bank move, when official data showed retail,