China offers $325 bn in fiscal stimulus for ailing economy

Published

1 year ago

October 13, 2024

China said Saturday it will make $325 billion in fiscal support available to its economy over the next three months, offering help to bolster banks, shore up the property market and free up consumption spending in Beijing’s biggest aid programme since the global financial crisis.

The highly anticipated stimulus came on top of a series of measures announced over the last weeks that have included interest rate cuts and liquidity for banks.

Despite the scale of the package, Finance Minister Lan Fo’an said China had the capacity to dig deeper.

“At present, we are accelerating the use of additional treasury bonds, and ultra-long-term special treasury bonds are also being issued for use,” he said.

“In the next three months, a total of 2.3 trillion yuan of special bond funds can be arranged for use in various places,” he added.

Beijing plans to “issue special government bonds to support large state-owned commercial banks in replenishing core tier-one capital, enhance these banks’ risk resistance and credit lending capabilities, and better serve the development of the real economy”, Lan said.

The debt ceiling of local governments will also be lowered for them to spend more on infrastructure and to help protect jobs.

The figure is slightly more than the two trillion yuan analysts and investors polled by Bloomberg had expected to be announced.

Mortgage help

Beijing has said it is aiming for five percent growth this year — enviable for many Western countries but a far cry from the double-digit expansion that for years drove the Chinese economy.

But the economic uncertainty is also fuelling a vicious cycle that has kept consumption stubbornly low.

Chinese policymakers have unveiled a string of stimulus measures including a suite of rate cuts and a loosening of rules on buying homes, but economists said that more action is needed to pull the economy out of its slump for good.

Earlier on Saturday, China’s top banks said they would cut lower interest rates on existing mortgages from October 25, state media said, following a government call for the action.

“Except for second mortgages in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and some other regions, the interest rates on other eligible mortgages will be adjusted” to no less than 30 basis points below the prime lending rate, the central bank’s benchmark rate for mortgages, state broadcaster CCTV said.

CCTV reported that major banks including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, and China Construction Bank had announced that they would make the adjustments “in batches”.

The banks said the tweaks “will be uniformly done… and customers do not need to apply for them”, CCTV reported.

The People’s Bank of China last month requested that commercial banks lower such rates by October 31.

Beijing also last month slashed interest on one-year loans to financial institutions, cut the amount of cash lenders must keep on hand and pushed to lower rates on existing mortgages.

And the central bank this week boosted support for markets by opening up tens of billions of dollars in liquidity for firms to buy stocks.

Beijing said the “swap facility” — worth 500 billion yuan — would encourage “the healthy and stable development of the capital market”.

Gunmen k!ll President General of Ogidi community and one other in Anambra.

Published

13 hours ago

February 7, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

Unidentified gunmen, suspected to be cultists, have k!lled a community leader and one other person in Anambra State.

The President-General of Ogidi community in Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State, Ikwuka Okoye, popularly known as Anumili (pictured above), was k!lled on Friday, Feb. 6.

The attack was alleged to have been carried out by members of a rival cult group in revenge for the de@th of their leader, who was arrested and k!lled by local security operatives.

During the attack, which took place at the School Field, Ogidi, another man whose identity has yet to be ascertained was also gunned down.

The spokesman for the Anambra State Police Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the incident in a press statement on Saturday.

Ikenga said the incident is allegedly linked to the recent capture and k!lling of a known notorious cultist within the community.

He said, “The Anambra State Police Command regrets the murd£r of the President-General of the Ogidi community and one other person. The incident, which occurred on the evening of February 6, 2026, at the School Field, Ogidi, is allegedly linked to the recent capture and k!lling of a known notorious cultist within the community.

“Following the report, police operatives swiftly took over the scene of the incident and commenced investigations. The command is currently working with eyewitness accounts and other available intelligence to identify and arrest the perpetrators.

“The Anambra State Police Command assures members of the public that all efforts are being intensified to bring those responsible to justice.

“Residents are urged to remain calm and cooperate with the police as investigations continue.

“Further developments will be communicated in due course.”

Police bust syndicate behind nude photo blackmail in Lagos

Published

1 day ago

February 6, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

Men of the Police Special Fraud Unit (PSFU), Lagos, have apprehended three suspects who allegedly run a cyber blackmail and extortion scheme in the state.

According to the spokesperson of the unit, DSP Ovie Ewhubare, the suspects get a hold of their victims explicit photos and then threaten to release them if a ransom is not paid.

He said that the suspects, two males and a female, were apprehended after a petition was filed by a complainant who reported being repeatedly threatened by unknown individuals demanding money.

“The complainant received several phone calls in which the callers threatened to release her nude photographs to the public if she failed to pay them. Acting out of fear and emotional distress, she transferred money to the suspects.

The situation escalated when the suspects demanded an additional N10 million, prompting her to formally petition the police,” he said

The police imagemaker state dthat upon receipt of the complaint, the Commissioner of Police, PSFU, Mr Kayode Ojapinwa, ordered the immediate deployment of operatives to investigate the matter.

“The investigation led to the arrest of the three suspects. Investigations revealed that one of the suspects gained unlawful access to the complainant’s mobile device and fraudulently transferred her nude photographs to his own device. Further findings indicated that he conspired with the other suspects and other accomplices currently at large to demand and receive money from the complainant in several tranches,” he said

According to him, the suspects are currently in police custody and are expected to be arraigned before a court of competent jurisdiction.

The image maker said that investigations were ongoing to apprehend other fleeing members of the syndicate and to recover all proceeds of the alleged crime.

Catholic Priest Collapses And D!es In Front Of Congregation While Walking To Tabernacle To Return Holy Communion

Published

1 day ago

February 6, 2026

Ekwutos Blog

A Catholic priest has tragically passed away after suddenly collapsing in front of the congregation during Sunday mass.

The tragic incident took place last Sunday, February 1 in Wiesmath in the district of Wiener Neustadt, Austria.

Shortly after administering Holy Communion, 59-year-old priest Raimund Beisteiner was about to return the host to the tabernacle when he “suddenly” collapsed, according to a statement from the Archdiocese of Vienna.

“Despite immediate professional assistance, he di£d in the church,” the statement said.

The mayor of Wiesmath, Erich Rasner, had also attended the Mass with many other believers and witnessed the dramatic scenes.

The shock in Wiesmath at the loss of the popular priest is great. Beisteiner had shaped the spiritual life of the parish for almost two decades and was highly regarded far beyond the community.

Rasner praised him as an “extremely conscientious, sensitive priest” and also emphasized the personal loss of a friendship that had grown over many years.

A prayer service was organized at short notice for the late priest. It was attended by numerous priests from the deanery as well as Archbishop Josef Grünwidl.