Mizuho Corporate Bank said Monday it will cut its long-term prime lending rate by 0.05 percentage point to a record low 1.5 percent per year.
The move becomes effective Tuesday.
The bank, a unit of Mizuho Holdings Inc., cut the rate in February by a similar amount to match the previous record low of 1.55 percent in July 2001.
Mizuho Corporate Bank decided on the cut due to falls in yields on its debentures following recent slides in government bond yields induced by steady inflows of investment funds into the government bond market, bank officials said.
Later in the day, Shinsei Bank followed suit by cutting its long-term prime lending rate, which is charged on loans of more than one year to the most creditworthy corporate clients, by the same margin to 1.5 percent per year.