人民幣退居全球第六大支付貨幣

International use of the renminbi dropped sharply in 2016 as capital controls and dollar strength reduced the attractiveness of China’s currency, according to new payments data released on Thursday.

週四發佈的新支付數據顯示，2016年人民幣國際使用量大幅下滑，資本管制和美元走強削弱了人民幣的吸引力。

The Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (Swift) said the value of international renminbi payments fell 29.5 per cent compared with 2015.

環球同業銀行金融電訊協會(SWIFT)表示，與2015年相比，人民幣國際支付額下滑了29.5%。

The renminbi was only the sixth most used currency in 2016 despite its formal recognition in October by the International Monetary Fund as a global reserve currency, alongside the dollar, euro, yen and sterling.

在2016年各幣種國際使用量排行榜上，人民幣僅排在第六位，儘管去年10月人民幣被國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)正式承認爲全球儲備貨幣之一。其他儲備貨幣包括美元、歐元、日元和英鎊。

The renminbi, which had ranked fifth in 2015, was overtaken by the Canadian dollar, which is not included in the IMF’s special drawing rights basket.

2015年人民幣在該榜單上排在第五位，今年取代人民幣位子的是加元。加元並不包含在IMF特別提款權(SDR)貨幣籃子中。

The Swift rankings are the latest sign that Beijing’s global ambitions for the renminbi have been put on hold as the People’s Bank of China focuses instead on stemming both the redback’s fall against the dollar and steady erosion of the country’s foreign exchange reserves, which have declined 25 per cent to $3tn since 2014.

人民幣在SWIFT榜單上的排名下滑，是北京方面擱置人民幣國際化野心的最新跡象，中國央行已轉而把主要精力放在抑制人民幣對美元貶值和中國外匯儲備持續縮水上。自2014年以來，中國外匯儲備已縮水25%，至3萬億美元。

“The PBoC’s short-term focus has shifted from internationalisation of the renminbi to stabilise renminbi outflows and the exchange rate,” said Ming Zhang at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “I expect continued capital controls and slow depreciation against the dollar in 2017.”

“中國央行短期內的重心已從人民幣國際化轉到讓人民幣外流和人民幣匯率企穩上，”中國社會科學院的張明表示，“我預計2017年將繼續實施資本管控，人民幣對美元將緩慢貶值。”

Michael Moon, Swift’s Asia head of payments markets, also attributed the fall- in international usage of the renminbi to slower economic growth in China. Output increased 6.7 per cent last year, the lowest annual rate for a quarter of a century.

SWIFT支付市場亞洲主管邁克爾?穆恩(Michael Moon)還把人民幣國際使用量下滑歸因於中國經濟增長放緩。去年中國經濟產出增長6.7%，是25年來年增速最慢的一年。

However, Mr Moon predicted that use of the renminbi would rebound as more offshore clearing centres for the renminbi are established. Chinese regulators have also said that recently introduced capital controls are temporary measures.

但穆恩預計，隨着建立起更多的離岸人民幣清算中心，人民幣的使用量將會反彈。中國監管部門也表示，近期出臺的資本管控是臨時性措施。

Additional reporting by Liu Xinning

Liu Xinning補充報道