Bank of Canada cuts rate by 0.5% point

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

OTTAWA, Jan. 20 (Chinese media) -- The Bank of Canada on Tuesday cut its main

interest rate by half a percentage point to one percent, the lowest in its

history, in a bid to stimulate the economy and boost lending to consumers and

businesses.

The bank has slashed 1.5 percentage points from its rate since last

October.

However, Canada's chartered banks have not followed suit. In December, they

passed on only two-thirds of the bank's cut of three-quarters of a percentage

point.

Analysts said the rate cuts have done little to stimulate the economy so

far.

Numbers released earlier this month show that Canada's economy lost 34,000

jobs in December, sending the unemployment rate up to 6.6 percent.