Oct. 30 – The People’s Bank of China said on its website that one-year benchmark lending and deposit rates will be lowered by 0.27 percentage points effective immediately.

This marks China’s third interest rate cut in six weeks and is in conjunction with a new round of rate cuts happening around the world. The new rate for one-year deposits is now 3.6 percent while the one-year lending rate has decreased to 6.66 percent.

The rates for public housing fund will remain unchanged. The move is an effort to buffer China’s economy from the pressures of the international credit crisis.

“More interest rate cuts are already expected and the timing doesn’t come as a surprise either,” said Lu Zhengwei, the chief economist at Industrial Bank in Shanghai told Shanghai Daily.

“As Governor Zhou said, the central bank is going to have more frequent communication with foreign central banks,” Lu added. “It already indicated that China is likely to work with other countries to fight the financial crisis.”

Last October 8, China joined other countries by simulteneously slashing interest rates to build investor confidence.