Hong Kong  - Hong Kong shares slumped by more than 8 per cent Wednesday as economic woes deepened despite a cut in interest rates intended to boost liquidity in the city's money markets.

The Hang Seng Index lost 1,372.03 points or 8.17 per cent, crashing through the 16,000 points barrier within minutes of the market opening and ending the day at 15,431.73 points. Turnover was
77.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (10 billion US dollars).

The blue-chip index has fallen at an unprecedented rate in recent weeks and has now shed 50 per cent of its value since it peaked at just below 32,000 points in October 2007.

The tumbling share prices came despite the Hong Kong Monetary Authority announcing Wednesday morning that it was cutting the base lending rate for banks by one percentage point to 2.5 per cent from Thursday.

Authority chairman Joseph Yam said the decision had been taken on account of the global financial crisis and said he hoped it would ease pressure on banks to increase lending despite tight credit markets. (dpa)