China’s Commerce Ministry: Will launch an online shopping festival to prop up consumption

According to the Commerce Ministry, China will launch an online shopping festival to prop up consumption after its economic growth contracted 6.8% YoY in the first quarter, as cited by Global Times.

The festival marks the latest step to blunt the impacts of the epidemic on its economy, the Ministry added.

In an effort to stimulate growth, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) cut the Target Medium Lending (MLF) rate by 20bps to 2.95% earlier today.

Market reaction

A somber market mood persists ahead of the European open amid global recession fears. Therefore, the above comments fail to deliver any positive impact, with USD/JPY ranging around 107.65 while AUD/USD extends decline below 0.6350.