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| China cuts bank reserve ratio to boost lending | China cuts bank reserve ratio to boost lending |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| China's central bank has cut the amount of money banks must keep in reserve, in an effort to boost lending and sustain economic growth. | China's central bank has cut the amount of money banks must keep in reserve, in an effort to boost lending and sustain economic growth. |
| The reserve requirements will fall half a percentage point from 24 February, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said. | |
| Analysts said this could add as much as 400 billion yuan ($63.5bn; £40bn) to the financial system. | Analysts said this could add as much as 400 billion yuan ($63.5bn; £40bn) to the financial system. |
| The Chinese economy is showing signs of slowing as Europe's debt crisis hurts Chinese exports. | The Chinese economy is showing signs of slowing as Europe's debt crisis hurts Chinese exports. |
| Slow and steady | |
| China's ruling Communist Party is trying to sustain growth in the second-largest economy in the world, whilst continuing to rein in consumer prices. | |
| Inflation hit a three-year high in July last year, but has since fallen to 4.5% in January. | |
| The government warned that inflation still remained above target. | |
| "Economic downward pressures co-exist with price rise pressures," said Jin Qi, an assistant governor with PBOC, in comments published on Sunday. | |
| Analysts said his words meant that further easing would come slowly. | |
| "Policy easing will be gradual given the central bank sounded cautious about inflation in its fourth-quarter monetary policy report," said Hua Zhongwei from Huachuang Securities in Beijing. | |
| The last reserve requirement cut in November was the first since 2008. | |
| Property pressure | |
| The need to tame prices comes after an earlier stimulus that increased inflationary pressures including on the housing market. | |
| Data released on Saturday indicated that property prices were continuing to cool. | |
| Prices failed to rise in any of the 70 cities the National Bureau of Statistics monitors as part of its economic assessements. Chinese authorites do not provide a national average. | |
| However according to calculations carried out by Reuters news agency, average home prices fell 0.2% in January from December, dropping for the fourth straight month. |