China cuts rates amid weak recoveryLOCKDOWN TOLL: Weak retail sales were due to COVID-19 disruptions, as Beijing’s strict virus policy was expected to continue depressing consumer activity, an analyst saidAFP, BEIJINGChina’s central bank yesterday slashed key interest rates in a bid to kick-start the country’s stuttering economic recovery, as data showed factory output and retail sales for last month came in weaker than analysts’ expectations. The People’s Bank of China cut its policy rates, bringing its seven-day reverse repurchase rate — a key rate at which the central bank provides short-term liquidity to banks — to a new low. Photo: AFPThe world’s second-biggest economy saw a bounce in business activity as some COVID-19 restrictions eased in June, but the boost is fading and Beijing remains welded to a “zero COVID-19” policy of snap lockdowns and long quarantines, which has battered sentiment. Retail sales grew at a slower-than-expected 2.7 percent from a year earlier, down from 3.1 percent in June, while the urban unemployment rate fell to 5.4 percent, the bureau said. The country’s economic growth was just 0.4 percent on-year in the second quarter — its slowest rate since the initial COVID-19 outbreak.
