BANKING

Japan’s Central Bank to Cut Key Interest Rate: The Bank of Japan plans to cut its discount rate to a record low in an effort to perk up the economy, the semi-governmental Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) reported. NHK said the Bank of Japan will lower the discount rate, charged on loans to commercial banks, from 2.5% to 2.0%. It would be the seventh such cut since July 1991. The central bank hopes the cut will encourage consumer spending and investment by companies, which have slowed over the past two years. The government reported last week that the economy shrank 0.5% in the April-June quarter of this year, after an upturn in the January-March quarter. Last week, the Japanese government announced a $57 billion stimulus package, the third such plan in 13 months.