Central bank cuts interest rates for second time in three months

The People’s Bank of China cut mainland banks’ benchmark one-year lending and deposit rates late Saturday night by 25 basis points to 5.35% and 2.5%, respectively, hot on the heels of making its first such cut in more than two years in late November, The Financial Times reported, citing an announcement from the central bank. The consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, rose just 0.8% in January from a year earlier–the weakest pace since November 2009–and the government purchasing managers’ index came in at 49.9 in February, up slightly from January but still below the 50-point mark separating growth from contraction in the sector.