中國央行降準釋放流動性

China has eased monetary policy in an effort to boost its slowing economy, barely 48 hours after the G20 warned of over-reliance on central banks to drive global growth.

中國已放鬆貨幣政策以求提振放緩中的經濟。僅僅兩天前，20國集團(G20)就過於依賴央行驅動全球經濟增長髮出了警告。

The People’s Bank of China announced yesterday it would cut the share of customer deposits banks are required to hold in reserve, injecting a jolt of liquidity into its banking system. The reduction will unleash about Rmb690bn ($106bn) into the country’s financial system, according to Financial Times estimates based on central bank data.

中國人民銀行(PBoC)昨日宣佈，將下調存款準備金率，由此向銀行體系注入額外流動性。英國《金融時報》根據央行資料進行的估算顯示，此舉將向中國金融體系釋放約6900億元人民幣（合1060億美元）。

But economists warned that the central bank’s decision to cut the required reserve ratio by 0.5 percentage points risked putting further downward pressure on the renminbi.

但經濟學家們警告稱，央行決定下調存款準備金率0.5個百分點，可能使人民幣受到進一步下行壓力。

China’s foreign exchange reserves have been falling at a rate of $100bn a month since December, as the PBoC attempts to cushion the renminbi’s recent fall against the dollar. At a G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bankers last weekend in Shanghai, senior Chinese officials assured their international counterparts that the renminbi would not experience a sustained devaluation.

隨著中國央行試圖緩解人民幣近期相對於美元的下跌，自去年12月以來中國外匯儲備每個月下降1000億美元。在上週末上海舉行的G20財長和央行行長會議上，中國高官向國際同行保證，人民幣不會出現持續貶值。

“The aim [of the RRR cut] clearly is to support the economy at a time that downward pressures on growth remain strong and uncertainty is elevated,” Louis Kuijs, head of Asia economics at Oxford Economics, wrote yesterday. “This move suggests that for China’s policymakers growth remains key.”

“（降準）的目的顯然是支援經濟，目前增長面臨的下行壓力仍然很大，不確定性居高不下，”牛津經濟(Oxford Economics)的高路易(Louis Kuijs)昨日寫道。“此舉似乎表明，對中國的政策制定者來說，增長仍是關鍵。”

The PBoC has cut the RRR by 2 percentage points over the past year, reducing it to 17 per cent for big banks.

中國央行在過去一年裡已經累計降準2個百分點，對大銀行下調至17%。

But yesterday’s reduction was the first since October as the central bank returned to a tactic it had shelved in favour of managing the country’s money supply through open market operations.

不過，昨天的下調是去年10月以來的第一次；此前央行擱置了這種戰術，轉而通過公開市場操作來管理中國的貨幣供應量。

The latest cut is also aimed at countering the impact on the money supply of large capital outflows in recent months and may also be intended to boost confidence in China’s stock market, which has renewed its falls, analysts say.

分析師們表示，最新的降準之舉還旨在抵消近幾個月大量資本外流對貨幣供應量的影響，可能還意在提振投資者對近來恢復跌勢的中國股市的信心。

“It may be the PBoC senses that speculative pressure has diminished or that closer monitoring of capital flows has helped slow the [out]flow[s],” Mark Williams, China economist at Capital Economics, said in a note. “Either way, today’s decision suggests the PBoC is more relaxed about outflows than a few weeks ago.”

“中國央行也許感覺到，投機壓力已經減弱，或者更加密切地監測資本流動已經幫助減緩了外流，”凱投巨集觀(Capital Economics)中國經濟學家馬克威廉姆斯(Mark Williams)在一份簡報中表示。“不管怎樣，今天的決定似乎表明，中國央行對資本外流沒有幾周前緊張了。”