關注社會:各國央行紛紛降息保增長
Central banks in Europe and Asia attempted to stimulate the sluggish global economy yesterday by loosening monetary policy and cutting interest rates.
昨日，歐洲和亞洲各國央行紛紛放鬆貨幣政策及降低利率，以求刺激疲弱的全球經濟。The People's Bank of China surprised investors by lowering its main one-year lending rate by 0.31 percentage points to 6 per cent, showing that the economic slowdown extends beyond Europe.
出乎投資者意料的是，中國人民銀行(PBoC)將一年期基準貸款利率調低0.31個百分點，至6%，表明經濟放緩已經蔓延到歐洲以外。As expected, the European Central Bank cut its main interest rate by a quarter point to 0.75 per cent, the lowest on record, and the Bank of England restarted money-printing and pumped an extra £50bn into the UK economy, taking the total to £375bn.
正如各方所預期的，歐洲央行(ECB)將其主導利率下調25個基點，至0.75%這一歷史最低點。英國央行(Bank of England)則再次啓動印鈔機，向英國經濟再注入500億英鎊，至此英國央行已總共"印鈔"3750億英鎊。
The central banks' moves come as global business surveys show much weaker growth than expected this year. The global composite purchasing managers' index of activity in services and manufacturing, compiled by JPMorgan, dropped to 50.3 in July, its lowest since 2009.
各國央行採取行動之際，全球商業調查顯示，今年經濟增長顯著弱於預期。7月份，摩根大通(JPMorgan)編制的服務業和製造業全球綜合採購經理指數(PMI)降至50.3，爲2009年以來的新低。The action by the ECB did little to lift sentiment on European assets, which have now ended their rally after last week's summit. The euro fell about 1 per cent to below $1.24 in late London trading, while 10-year borrowing costs for Spain jumped 0.4 percentage points to more than 6.75 per cent, reversing the past week's movement away from the danger zone.
歐洲央行的舉措並沒有提振人們對歐洲資產的信心，上週峯會後歐洲金融資產的漲勢現在已經告終。倫敦接近收盤時，歐元兌美元匯率已跌破1歐元兌1.24美元水平，當日跌幅約爲1%。西班牙十年期借貸成本上升0.4個百分點，達到逾6.75%，重返上週的危險水平。In Frankfurt, Mario Draghi, president of the ECB, said the rate cuts were taken independently by central banks and those in the eurozone reflected weak growth, "with heightened uncertainty weighing on confidence and sentiment".
歐洲央行行長馬里奧•德拉吉(Mario Draghi)在法蘭克福(Frankfurt)表示，各國央行和歐元區分別降息表明增長乏力，"不確定性上升，對人們的信心和情緒形成壓力"。
Insisting that the rate cut was unanimous among all 17 eurozone members, the ECB also cut its deposit rate, the rate paid to banks parking money overnight at the central bank, to zero. The move will provide banks with a large deposit base a greater incentive to lend to other eurozone banks overnight.
歐洲央行堅稱，歐元區17個成員國一致同意降息，歐洲央行還將面向各成員國銀行的隔夜存款利率降到零。此舉將爲擁有較大存款基礎的銀行提供更大激勵，推動它們爲歐元區其他銀行提供隔夜放貸。The Danish central bank took this step one stage further, taking its deposit rate into negative territory for the first time, imposing a 0.2 per cent annual charge on certificates of deposit.
丹麥央行則更進一步，首次將其存款利率降爲負值，對存款收取0.2%的年度收費。With interest rates in London already at their lowest in more than 300 years, the Bank of England opted for a third-wave of quantitative easing, blaming "the increased drag from the heightened tensions within the euro area" for the recent descent of Britain's economy into a double-dip recession.
英國利率早已降到300多年以來的最低點，英國央行選擇了第三次量化寬鬆舉措，並將最近英國經濟陷入二次衰退歸咎於"歐元區緊張加劇，造成更大拖累"。
