亞投行的出現是美國國會的錯

Beijing was pushed into launching the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank by US lawmakers’ refusal to give China greater clout in existing multilateral institutions, Ben Bernanke has said.

本•伯南克(Ben Bernanke)表示，北京之所以推動發起亞洲基礎設施投資銀行（Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank，簡稱亞投行），是因爲美國國會議員拒絕在現有多邊機構中給予中國更大投票權。

“The US Congress is largely at fault for all that’s happening,” the former chairman of the Federal Reserve said in Hong Kong yesterday.

美聯儲(Fed)前主席昨日在香港表示：“發生這一切主要是美國國會的錯。”

America’s legislature blocked a 2010 International Monetary Fund agreement to shift 6 per cent of quota — and voting rights — to emerging economies, which Mr Bernanke believes would have “better reflected the increasing role of China” and other nations.

2010年國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)達成一份協議，將6%的配額（以及投票權）轉移給新興經濟體，但遭到美國國會的阻止，伯南克認爲，該協議“原本可以更好地反映出中國（及其他國家）日益重要的作用”。

“The US Congress has not approved it. They should, they haven’t,” Mr Bernanke said.

伯南克說：“美國國會沒有批准該協議。他們應該批准，卻沒有這麼做。”

“So I understand why other countries say, ‘well let’s take our marbles and go home’.”

“所以，我理解爲什麼其他國家說，‘那咱們就收拾一下回家吧’。”

The AIIB, which will be capitalised at $100bn, now has 57 members, including most big European economies.

資本金將達到1000億美元的亞投行，目前有57個成員國，包括歐洲多數大經濟體。

Mr Bernanke’s remarks add to those of other senior US figures who argue that Washington has mishandled its response to China’s ambition to play a bigger role in the global economy.

伯南克的言論呼應了美國一些高層人物的觀點，他們提出，對於中國在全球經濟中發揮更大作用的雄心，華盛頓迴應不當。

Lawrence Summers, the former US Treasury secretary, wrote recently that US cold-shouldering of the AIIB may be remembered as the moment it “lost its role as the underwriter of the global economic system”.

美國前財長勞倫斯•薩默斯(Lawrence Summers)最近撰文表示，美國給予亞投行的冷遇，也許會被記載爲美國“失去全球經濟體系擔保人的角色”的一刻。

Mr Bernanke said those remarks were “a little strong”, but agreed it was “unfortunate” China had felt the need to go its own way. “It would be better to have a globally unified system and allow resources to go where they are needed,” he said.

伯南克認爲此言可能“有些言重”，但伯南克同意，中國感到有必要走自己的路是“不幸的”。他說：“更好的安排是建立全球統一的體系，讓資源流向需要的地方。”

However, the former Fed chairman played down the practical implications of the AIIB, saying the bank was largely symbolic. “There’s now a huge amount of private capital flows going in and out of emerging markets, including money that goes into infrastructure projects,” he said.

不過伯南克淡化了亞投行的實際影響，稱該行的意義主要還是象徵性的。他說：“現在有大量私人資本流入和流出新興市場，包括投向基礎設施項目的資金。”

According to a former senior official at the Asian Development Bank, which is dominated by Japan and the US, ADB lending accounts for less than 2 per cent of Asia’s infrastructure needs.

根據亞洲開發銀行（Asian Development Bank，簡稱：亞開行）一名前高官的說法，亞開行發放貸款不足亞洲基礎設施需求的2%。亞開行由日本和美國兩國主導。

Mr Bernanke also said too much attention was being focused on the internationalisation of the renminbi, which was as much a matter of “national prestige” as of practical economic value. In reality, he said, the Chinese currency’s share of global reserves was “very tiny”, and even its share of trade settlement was “modest”.

伯南克還表示，人民幣全球化引起了過多關注，這件事既關乎實際經濟價值，也關係到“國家威望”。他表示，在現實中，人民幣在全球儲量佔比“非常小”，就連在貿易結算中的比例也“不大”。

China should continue gradual steps to open up its capital account to deepen its bond markets and to allow a bigger role for the private sector, Mr Bernanke advised.

伯南克建議，中國應繼續循序漸進地開放資本賬戶，深化債券市場，允許私營部門發揮更大作用。

These were all preconditions to make the renminbi a reserve currency, he said, but they were more important as a means of improving capital allocation. The ultimate goal, he said, was to shift China’s economic model from one dominated by industry and investment to one in which the consumer and the service industry played a much bigger role.

他說，這些都是使人民幣成爲儲備貨幣的前提條件，但更重要的是將它們作爲提高資金配置效率的一種手段。他說最終目標是將中國經濟模式從以工業和投資爲主，轉型爲讓消費者和服務業發揮更大作用。