SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China cut its benchmark reference rate for mortgages by an unexpectedly wide margin on Friday, its second reduction this year as Beijing seeks to revive the ailing housing sector to prop up the economy.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China cut its benchmark reference rate for mortgages by an unexpectedly wide margin on Friday, its second cut this year as Beijing seeks to revive the ailing housing sector to prop up the economy.

Japan's core consumer inflation in April exceeded a central bank target of 2% for the first time in seven years, but only thanks to rising import costs, not the strong domestic demand that the central bank has been trying to kindle.

New Zealand's central bank will hike its policy interest rate by half a percentage point to counter soaring inflation when it meets on May 25, making a hike of that magnitude for the first time at successive meetings, a Reuters poll found.

Bank Indonesia will wait a few more months to raise rates from a record low despite rising inflation and aggressive moves by the U.S. Federal Reserve, according to a Reuters poll of economists that showed a growing minority expect a hike next month.

China cut its benchmark reference rate for mortgages by an unexpectedly wide margin on Friday, its second cut this year as Beijing seeks to revive credit demand to prop up the economy.