中國央行今起下調存款準備金率
HONG KONG —China said on Monday evening that it would free up banks in the country to lend more, as the government attempts to shore up slowing economic growth.
香港——隨着政府試圖穩住下滑的經濟增長速度，中國在週一晚間表示，將允許國內的銀行發放更多的貸款。
The move comes as the country’s top financial Policy makersattempt to reassure the rest of the world that their management of the economy remains on track, and that they still have many tools at their disposal to avoid an even sharper slowdown in a is also grappling with persistent capital outflows amid expectations that the currency, the renminbi, could weaken further.
宣佈此舉的同時，中國的最高財政政策制定者在試圖讓世界其他國家放心，他們對經濟的管理仍保持在正確的軌道上，而且他們手邊還有許多避免經濟增長速度更大幅度下降的工具。中國也在對付資本持續大量外流的問題，由於人們預期中國貨幣人民幣的價值可能會進一步走軟。
The measure announced on Monday comes just days before the country’s top leaders convene in Beijing for the so-called two meetings, the annual gatherings of the full membership of the national legislature and a sprawling committee of political advisers.
週一宣佈的措施也是在中國最高領導人即將在北京召開所謂的兩會的幾天前，兩會指的是每年一次的國家立法機構全體成員大會，以及一個龐大的政治顧問委員會的年度會議。
Effective Tuesday, China’s central bank said, the amount of cash that commercial banks are required to set aside as reserves will bereduced. Lowering the reserve requirement ratio essentially gives the state-controlled banking system more money to lend.
中國央行表示，自週二起，將降低商業銀行需要留下來作爲儲備的現金數額。降低存款準備金率本質上是讓由國家控制的銀行系統有更多的錢放貸。
The move is the latest example of the fine line that China’s policy makers are attempting to walk as they look to bolster the economy, the world’s second-largest, after the United States. A major lending binge in recent years has left China with too many steel and cement factories and saddled many state-owned companies with too much debt. At the same time, China’s leaders are trying to channel lending to areas long underserved by state-owned banks, such as small and midsize businesses, that the leaders see as essential to nurturing growth.
這一措施是中國的政策制定者在尋求提振經濟時試圖把握分寸的最新例證。中國是世界上第二大經濟體，僅次於美國。近幾年的一個放貸狂潮已經給中國留下了太多的鋼鐵廠和水泥廠，讓許多國有企業揹負了太多的債務。與此同時，中國領導人正試圖讓貸款進入國有銀行長期忽略的領域，比如中小型企業，領導人認爲中小型企業對促進經濟增長至關重要。
This is the fifth time that the central bank, the People’s Bank of China, has cut the reserve ratio since the start of last year. Themove on Monday could release around 630 billion renminbi, or about $96 billion, in additional liquidity to China’s banking system, according to estimates from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
這是央行中國人民銀行自去年年初以來第五次降低存款準備金率。據美國美林銀行估計，週一的措施可向中國的銀行系統提供大約6300億人民幣（相當於約960億美元）的補充流動資金。
For the biggest banks, the ratio of total deposits that must be kept in reserve was reduced to 17 percent, from 17.5 percent. In recent months, Beijing has lowered interest rates and made other moves to rekindle growth. In a sign that some of those policies may be having an impact, China reported a record surge in credit growth for January.
對大型銀行而言，它們必須保持的儲備存款總額的比例從17.5％降到17％。近幾個月來，北京當局已經幾次降低利率，還採取其他措施以重振經濟增長。這些政策也許產生了影響的一種跡象是，中國公佈了1月份信貸增長創紀錄飆升的數據。
By lowering the reserve requirement ratio, or R.R.R., by half a percentage point, the central bank is partly seeking to offset its own actions in support of the currency. The central bank has been selling dollars and buying renminbi to prop up the value of the renminbi, which has been under pressure.
通過把存款準備金率降低半個百分點，央行正部分地在尋求平衡自己做出的支持貨幣的行動。爲了支撐人民幣的價值，央行已在拋售美元、同時購買人民幣，而人民幣一直面臨貶值的壓力。
But that has siphoned liquidity out of the system. In response, the central bank has been injecting billions of renminbi into the country’s financial system. The R.R.R. cut serves the same purpose, essentially representing a lending quota.
但是，這也減少了系統中的流動性。作爲響應，央行已向國內的金融體系注入數十億人民幣。此次降準是爲了同樣的目的，本質上代表了一種貸款配額。
In a news release on Monday, China’s central bank said the reduction was intended “to maintain adequate and reasonable liquidity in the financial system and guide the steady moderate growth of money and credit.”
在週一發佈消息時，中國央行表示，降準的目的是“保持金融體系流動性合理充裕，引導貨幣信貸平穩適度增長”。
In recent months, the People’s Bank of China has slowly been switching its focus away from changing reserve requirements. Instead, it has been putting greater emphasis on interest rates as a way to control liquidity — specifically encouraging credit in the bank-to-bank lending market — an approach that is generally regarded as more market-oriented.
近幾個月來，中國人民銀行已在慢慢地將注意力從改變存款準備金的要求上移開，變得更重視把利率作爲控制流動性的工具，特別是在銀行對銀行貸款市場上鼓勵信貸方面，這種方法被普遍認爲更市場化。
Still, the pressure on the renminbi to weaken remains such that the central bank will probably need to dig deeper into its monetary policy toolbox. Economists expect multiple reductions this year both to benchmark interest rates and to reserve ratios.
儘管如此，人民幣面臨的貶值壓力仍然如此之大，以至於央行可能將需要動用其貨幣政策工具箱中更深層的工具。經濟學家預計今年還將有幾次降低基準利率和存款準備金率的動作。
“Over the past couple of years, the number of policy tools available to the People’s Bank of China has proliferated,” Mark Williams, the chief China economist at Capital Economics, wrote Monday evening in a research note.
“在過去的幾年中，中國人民銀行可用的政策工具的數量大增，”凱投宏觀(Capital Economics)首席中國經濟學家馬克·威廉姆斯(Mark Williams)週一晚在一份研究簡報中寫道。
Although the central bank has been moving toward more market-driven interest rates, traditional measures like the R.R.R. cut still create across-the-board stimulus, Mr. Williams added.
威廉姆斯補充說，雖然央行已經逐步走上更多地讓市場決定利率的道路，但像降準這樣的傳統措施仍可製造全面的刺激。
“The move underscores a message that officials have repeated in recent days, including at the G-20 meeting: Policy makers still have room to support the economy,” he said.
他說，“此舉凸顯了官員在最近幾天多次傳達的信息，包括在20國集團會議上，那就是政策制定者仍然有支持經濟的空間。”
