Amman - The Central Bank of Jordan on Saturday cut basic interest rates by half a percentage point in the third such move since the advent of the global financial crisis in September.

The CBJ trimmed the rediscount rate to 5.25 per cent from 5.75 per cent and the repurchase rate (repo) to 5.00 per cent from 5.50 per cent.

In an attempt to ease the credit squeeze, the CBJ also cut the compulsory reserves deposited with the Central Bank by commercial banks by 1 percentage point, to 7 per cent from 8 per cent.

The step, which has been prompted by the declining inflation rate, has the aim of spurring the country's growth, the CBJ Governor Umayya Touqan said.

"The measures has been taken in the light of the deepening world recession and the receding inflationary pressures on the national and regional economies," Touqan added.

Jordan's growth rate retreated to 4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2008 from 5.4 per cent in the same period of 2007. The country's growth rate also dropped to 2.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2009 compared with 6.9 per cent in the same period of 2008, the CBJ said. (dpa)