Tokyo | China has cut the interest rate on new home loans in a surprise bid to stem a collapse in mortgage lending, as weak retail and factory activity in April compounded fears that Beijing’s stimulus measures are failing to offset the economic damage caused by COVID-19.

The rate cut, by 0.2 percentage points to 4.4 per cent, followed a surprise drop in lending in April and came just ahead of further data showing the extent of the slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

Bloomberg