China's central bank on Monday (Jan 17) cut the borrowing costs of its medium-term loans for the first time since April 2020, defying market expectations, to cushion any economic slowdown. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) said it was lowering the interest rate on 700 billion yuan (US$110.19 billion) worth of one-year medium-term lending facility (MLF) loans to some financial institutions by 10 basis points to 2.85 per cent from 2.95 per cent in previous operations. Thirty-four out of the 48 traders and analysts, or 70 per cent of all participants, polled by Reuters last week predicted no change to the MLF rates, ... (full story)