{"text":[[{"start":6.52,"text":"China has cut a central bank lending rate and unveiled nationwide subsidies for mortgage interest payments in policymakers’ latest attempts to counter slowing momentum in the world’s second-largest economy."}],[{"start":19.52,"text":"The finance ministry said late on Tuesday that first-time buyers would be able to access an annual mortgage interest subsidy of 1 percentage point for up to five years."}],[{"start":29.74,"text":"The People’s Bank of China separately said that the rate on its one-year pledged supplementary lending (PSL) facility — which offers cheap funding to the country’s policy banks to finance investment — would be cut by 25 basis points to 1.5 per cent and would see its scope broadened."}],[{"start":46.12,"text":"Both announcements came after a cabinet meeting on Monday chaired by premier Li Qiang, which agreed the need to “intensify” efforts to “implement countercyclical adjustments in macro policies”."}],[{"start":57.52,"text":"Economic strains in China have fuelled expectations of government support this year, especially given the stubborn persistence of a property slowdown that has for years undermined domestic confidence."}],[{"start":68.56,"text":"China’s year-on-year GDP growth was just 4.3 per cent between April and June, below the official full-year target range of 4.5 to 5 per cent and one of the lowest quarterly levels in decades. Monthly economic gauges such as retail sales and fixed-asset investment have also since shown weakness."}],[{"start":87.24,"text":"The new mortgage interest subsidies — which come as new home prices have continued to slide this year — had been anticipated by some analysts."}],[{"start":95.36,"text":"Economists at Morgan Stanley said last week that such a policy’s significance “would lie less in the immediate sales boost than in showing Beijing’s willingness to deploy central fiscal resources directly to support housing demand and household balance sheets”."}],[{"start":108.72,"text":"The subsidies are capped at loan principal of up to Rmb1mn ($149,000) per household, the Ministry of Finance said in its statement, and come into effect on Thursday. They apply to properties with a gross floor area of 120 square metres or less and a value of up to Rmb1.5mn."}],[{"start":128.08,"text":"The PSL rate, introduced in 2014 with a focus on sectors struggling to obtain credit, will also be expanded to encourage investment in areas such as communications and logistics networks."}],[{"start":140.36,"text":"The rate cut would “better incentivise policy banks to support the real economy”, the PBoC said on Tuesday."}],[{"start":146.84,"text":"The central bank also increased a quota for a relending programme targeting equipment upgrades and technology by Rmb200bn, to Rmb1.4tn."}],[{"start":158.54,"text":"The Chinese Communist Party’s Politburo, a top decision-making body, said in July it would speed up fiscal spending to support the economy, but stopped short of delivering any immediate stimulus measures."}],[{"start":175.66,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1790737784_7688.mp3"}