Rate cut won't solve manufacturers' woes

The central bank's interest rate cut on Friday, the first since July 2012, will ease the debt burden of industries struggling with overcapacity but not by enough to prompt a surge in production, experts said.

With sluggish global commodity prices and weak domestic demand, manufacturers do not have much initiative to expand output in the short run, they said.

The interest costs of the top 86 iron and steel producers, which owe more than 1.3 trillion yuan ($211.6 billion) to commercial banks, may decrease by 5 billion yuan as a result of the People's Bank of China's move to cut the benchmark lending rate by 40 basis points to 5.6 percent, data from the China Iron and Steel Association show.