The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) announced on Monday that it has cut interest rates for the second time in a month, as part of efforts to stimulate the slowing economy.

In a statement released by the People’s Bank, it said it had lowered the benchmark interest rate for one-year loans to 3.1 per cent from 3.35 per cent.

The bank said it had cut the benchmark rate for loans of more than five years to 3.6 per cent from 3.85 per cent, a rate used by banks to set interest rates on mortgages.

At the end of September last year, China announced a package of incentives to boost the recovery of the local economy, including plans to cut interest rates, tax breaks and other measures to facilitate property purchases, which have suffered for almost a year and a half due to a liquidity crisis at the country’s major property companies.