Reserve ratio

    The central bank on Monday cut the proportion of funds banks must set aside as reserves, in China’s latest attempt to tackle slowing growth in the world’s second-largest economy.

    The People’s Bank of China said in a statement it would trim the so-called “reserve requirement ratio” for financial institutions by 0.50 percentage points, freeing up more funds for them to lend. The move came immediately after a G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Shanghai, which stressed the use of all available policy tools to boost global growth, and with Chinese and world stock markets assailed* by worries over the economy.

    Retirement age

    China will release a plan on raising the retirement age this year to cope with pressures from a shrinking work force and an aging society, an official said on Monday.

    The official retirement age, which was adopted six decades ago when life expectancy* was much lower, has not adapted to economic and social development, said Yin Weimin, minister of human resources and social security, at a press conference.

    China’s retirement age is 60 for men, 55 for female white-collar workers and 50 for female blue-collar employees.

    Procecutor probed

    Macao’s former top prosecutor has been arrested over a suspected multimillion dollar corruption racket involving kickbacks* for lucrative public works contracts.

    Anti-corruption agents in Macao picked up Ho Chio-meng — who was once tipped as a possible chief executive for the city — on Saturday night as he tried to board a ferry to Hong Kong.

    Billionaire capital

    Beijing is home to the world’s most billionaires, pushing New York City out of the top slot it had held for years, according to a Shanghai-based research and media outlet that keeps track of the world’s wealthiest.

    Despite a slowing economy, the Chinese capital added 32 billionaires, bringing its total to 100 and New York added four, giving it 95 billionaires, according to the Hurun Global Rich List 2016.(SD-Agencies)