中國外匯儲備5個月來首次增加

China’s foreign exchange reserves rose last month for the first time since October as downward pressure on the renminbi eased.

隨着人民幣匯率下行壓力減輕，上個月中國外匯儲備出現自去年10月份以來的首次上升。

Reserves rose to $3.212tn in March, according to new data from the People’s Bank of China. Analysts had expected a drop of $6bn from February, when reserves stood at $3.202tn.

根據中國央行(PBoC)發佈的新數據，3月份中國外匯儲備上升至3.212萬億美元。分析師原本預計，中國外匯儲備會比2月份的3.202萬億美元低60億美元。

The real (albeit modest) rise of $10bn may help ease concerns over China’s foreign exchange reserves, which fell dramatically following the central bank’s announcement a new exchange-rate fixing regime in August. The surprise announcement led to confusion in global markets and a sudden devaluation against the dollar for China’s currency as capital outflows surged on expectations of further currency depreciation.

100億美元的實際上升幅度儘管不算大，但它或許有助於減輕對中國外匯儲備的擔憂。在去年8月份中國央行公佈新的匯率中間價機制之後，中國外匯儲備曾急劇減少。當時，突然公佈的消息令全球市場暈頭轉向，並導致人民幣兌美元匯率突然貶值。與此同時，人民幣進一步貶值的預期也導致資金外流急劇增加。

Another muddled announcement that the bank would fix the yuan against a currency basket in December appeared to quicken capital outflows, forcing the PBoC to expend more of China’s foreign exchange reserves to defend the currency against further dramatic devaluation. That month saw a record plunge of $107.92bn, followed by a drop of $99.47bn in January.

去年12月，該行再次作出了含混的表態，表示該行會令人民幣匯率緊盯一個貨幣籃子。這一表態似乎加劇了資金外流，迫使該行花費中國更多外儲，阻止人民幣陷入進一步暴跌。該月中國外匯儲備縮水幅度達創紀錄的1079.2億美元。而在之後的1月份，中國外匯儲備又減少了994.7億美元。

Reserves fell again in February’s, but by just $28.57bn, down only 0.8 per cent month-on-month. Chinese officials have spoken out against bets against the yuan, but analysts have cautioned that the central bank’s reserves aren’t infinite.

今年2月中國外匯儲備曾再次下降，不過降幅只有285.7億美元，同比只下降了0.8%。中國官方曾公開聲明反對人們押注人民幣貶值，不過分析師則提醒說，中國央行的外匯儲備也不是無限的。