$Lion-OCBC Sec HSTECH S$ (HST.SG)$ China's central bank on M...

China's central bank on Mon (Jul 22) cut two benchmark interest rates in a bid to boost lending and kickstart growth in the world’s second-largest economy.

Beijing is battling an unprecedented crisis in the country's vast real estate sector, continued weak consumption and a high youth unemployment rate, while geopolitical tensions with Washington and the European Union threaten its foreign trade.

Monday's rate cuts, anticipated by some economists, are supposed to encourage commercial banks to grant more credit and at more advantageous rates.

The two rates are at historic lows and the cuts come days after a key meeting of the Communist Party in Beijing.

Mon's decision represented a "step in the right direction", said Zhang Zhiwei, president and chief economist at Pinpoint Asset Management, in a note, adding that he expected more down the line.