China
Shenzhen City in China's Guangdong Province issued offshore renminbi local government bonds in Hong Kong Thursday evening, the fourth time since 2021.
The issue size of the bonds stands at 7 billion yuan (around 980 million U.S. dollars), with maturities of two years, three years, five years and 10 years, and the bulk being social responsibility bonds, low-carbon-city-themed green bonds and sustainable development bonds.
Shenzhen issues local gov't bonds in Hong Kong
The European Central Bank (ECB) announced on Thursday that it would slash key interest rates by 25 basis points in a bid to wind down the restrictive monetary policy.
Effective from March 12, the interest rates on the deposit facility, the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility will be decreased to 2.50 percent, 2.65 percent and 2.90 percent respectively, said the central bank in a statement.
The disinflation process is well on track, with headline inflation averaging 2.3 percent in 2025, 1.9 percent in 2026 and 2.0 percent in 2027, the ECB said.
The decision to keep on cutting rates came at a time when the economy in the eurozone is facing increasing uncertainties.
In its latest edition of the staff projections on Thursday, the ECB lowered its forecast for economic growth in the eurozone to 0.9 percent for 2025, 1.2 percent for 2026 and 1.3 percent for 2027.
This marks a downward revision from the ECB's forecast in December last year, which had projected 1.1 percent growth in 2025 and 1.4 percent in 2026, while the 2027 outlook remains unchanged.
The ECB attributed the weaker growth outlook for 2025 and 2026 to declining exports and sluggish investment, citing high trade policy uncertainty and broader economic instability as key factors.
ECB cuts interest rates by 25 basis points
