A citizen walks past the Hangzhou Central branch of the People's Bank of China in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province, June 13, 2023. China's central bank unexpectedly cut key policy rates for the second time in three months on Tuesday, in a fresh sign that the authorities are ramping up monetary easing efforts to boost a sputtering economic recovery. Analysts said the move opened the door to a potential cut in China's lending benchmark loan prime rate (LPR) next week. In a Reuters poll of 26 market watchers conducted this week, 20 participants, or 77%, predicted that the central bank would leave the MLF rate unchanged. The PBOC lowered key policy rates in June to prop up the broad economy, but data has been increasingly weak since.

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Persons: Tommy Wu, Ken Cheung Organizations: People's Bank of China, Mizuho Bank Locations: Hangzhou Central, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China's, China, United States