South Africa's central bank slashes rates by 1% to 10.5%
10:00 AM ET, Feb 05, 2009 - By Polya LesovaNEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The South African Reserve Bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 100 basis points to 10.5% Thursday in an aggressive move to boost sluggish economic growth. The rate cut was in line with market expectations. "With respect to economic growth, the domestic economy is being adversely affected by the continuing turbulence in the global economy," the central bank said in a statement. "The widening domestic output gap and declining international commodity prices are expected to exert further downward pressure on inflation going forward."
Czech central bank cuts interest rates to 1.75%
9:49 AM ET, Feb 05, 2009 - By Polya LesovaNEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- The Czech Republic's central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 1.75% Thursday, meeting market expectations. The bank voted to cut by only 50 basis points because of the weakness of the Czech koruna, said Stanislava Pravdova, an analyst at Danske Bank. "The monetary easing cycle is not over yet," she said. "However, further significant depreciation by the koruna might convince the CNB [Czech National Bank] to cut rates less aggressively. Additional monetary easing will doubtless impact the currency, which we expect to weaken further." After the rate decision, the euro fell 0.1% against the koruna, while the dollar rose 0.3% against the Czech currency.
Bank of England cuts key rate to 1% from 1.5%
7:01 AM ET, Feb 05, 2009 - By William L. WattsLONDON (MarketWatch) -- The Bank of England's rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee on Thursday dropped the central bank's key lending rate to 1% from 1.5%. The cut was widely expected. The move is the latest in a series of rate cuts that have reduced the benchmark from 5% since October in the face of a worsening global and domestic economic outlook. The U.K. economy slipped into recession in the fourth quarter of 2008.