China Lowers Bank Reserve Requirement in Boost to Flagging Economy

Voice of America
18 Mar 2023, 08:06 GMT+10

Beijing - China's central bank on Friday announced a cut to the amount of cash banks are required to hold in reserve for the first time this year, in a move designed to shore up an economy weakened by the pandemic.

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it would cut the reserve requirement ratio by 0.25 percentage point starting March 27, which would allow commercial banks to lend more to businesses.

This would bring the weighted average reserve requirement ratio for financial institutions to around 7.6%, the central bank said.

The PBOC said the latest cut was intended to 'improve the level of service to the real economy.'

The rate was last cut in November, when the world's second-largest economy was heavily hit by strict COVID-19 curbs.

China is still grappling with the fallout of its zero-COVID policy, which included harsh lockdowns and mass business closures, hitting supply chains and employment.

The country has set an economic growth target of 'around 5%' for 2023, one of the lowest in decades.

Authorities reported a rebound in retail sales in January and February, after the country abandoned zero-COVID controls and a massive exit wave of infections quickly subsided.

But Premier Li Qiang has warned that the growth target was 'not easy' to achieve as a grinding property crisis continued and global demand slowed.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to India Gazette.

More Information

21 ℃

Fog in New Delhi/Gandhi

Business

Section

Mercedes modernizing EV plants in China, Germany, Hungary,

FRANKFURT, Germany: The German Automobilwoche magazine has reported that as part of its efforts to switch to selling electric vehicles ...

Banks rebound lifting U.S. stock markets, Nasdaq gains 45 points

NEW YORK, New York - U.S. stocks rallied on Monday following the weekend buy-in of Credit Suisse by UBS, which ...

US loans $300 billion to banks following closing of SVB bank

WASHINGTON D.C.: The US Federal Reserve Bank has announced that cash-strapped banks throughout the US borrowed some $300 billion during ...

Deloitte agrees to pay $31 mln fine to China after mistakes in audit

BEIJING, China: Following the inability of China Huarong Asset Management Co Ltd to release financial reporting obligations in 2020, China ...

UBS to buy Credit Suisse for fraction of its value, Swiss government to underwrite losses

ZURICH, Switzerland - Depositors will be fully protected, shareholders will have their equity dwarfed, while bond holders will be largely ...

SpaceX, Netflix, Boeing join largest US business mission to Vietnam

HANOI, Vietnam: SpaceX, Netflix and Boeing will join what is described as the "biggest-ever" U.S. business mission to meet in ...

Delhi

Section