Interest rate cut to boost home buying

Beijing – China yesterday announced it would cut a key interest rate in a boost to home buyers and debt-mired developers as its economy is slowed by Covid restrictions ripping across major cities.

Prolonged lockdowns have constricted supply chains, quelled demand and stalled manufacturing in the major economy welded to a zero-Covid approach.

The five-year loan prime rate – on which many lenders base their mortgage rates – was trimmed to 4.45% from 4.6%, China’s central bank said yesterday.

Since the rate is “the benchmark for pricing most mortgages, we think the move is aimed at supporting housing demand”, Julian Evans-Pritchard, an analyst at Capital Economics, said.

The cut “should help drive a revival in housing sales”.

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Picture: AFP A mural painting covers a wall in Hara Sghira near the Ghriba synagogue of the Tunisian resort island, Djerba.