中國外匯儲備連續第5個月縮水
China’s foreign exchange reserves fell by nearly $70bn last month as the country’s central bank burned through more of its war chest in the fight to defend the renminbi from greater depreciation on the back of accelerating capital outflows.
上月，中國外匯儲備減少了將近700億美元。在資本外流加速的背景下，爲了力挺人民幣匯率、阻止其進一步貶值，中國央行消耗掉了更多的彈藥。
Reserves at the People’s Bank of China fell $69.1bn to $3.051tn in November, a decline of 2.2 per cent from the previous month and the largest drop since January’s fall of 3 per cent. A median forecast from economists had predicted a fall of only 1.9 per cent from October.
11月，中國央行外匯儲備減少691億美元，至3.051萬億美元，環比降幅2.2%，爲今年1月以來的最大降幅（1月的環比降幅爲3%）。經濟學家對11月環比降幅的預期中值僅爲1.9%。
The fifth consecutive monthly fall indicates growing difficulty for policymakers. Since the renminbi’s sharp depreciation in August 2015, Beijing has sought to combat more severe softening against the greenback by selling dollars from the central bank’s foreign exchange reserves.
這是中國外匯儲備連續第5個月下降，表明政策制定者面臨的困難與日俱增。自2015年8月人民幣大幅貶值以來，北京方面已努力通過出售央行外匯儲備中的美元來阻止人民幣相對美元進一步走軟。
But a fair share of the latest drop in China’s dollar-denominated forex reserves was likely due to the greenback’s rally. The dollar index, which tracks the US currency’s value against a basket of peers, rose 3.1 per cent in November, which will have lowered the value of China’s reserves in other currencies (exact totals for which are a state secret).
不過，此次中國以美元計價的外匯儲備減少，相當一部分原因很可能要歸於美元的上漲。11月，衡量美元對一籃子主要貨幣匯率的美元指數上漲了3.1%，這將壓低中國外匯儲備中非美元貨幣（各幣種儲備額的確切數字屬於國家機密）的價值。
The renminbi was in fact among the better-performing emerging markets currencies in the wake of last month’s US presidential election. Yet it is still down 6.1 per cent in the year to date and currently on track for its worst year since Beijing ended its hard dollar peg in 2005.
實際上，人民幣是上月美國總統選舉後新興市場貨幣中表現較好的之一。儘管如此，人民幣匯率今年迄今仍下跌了6.1%，今年有望成爲2005年人民幣不再緊盯美元以來人民幣匯率表現最糟的一年。
A gap between the offshore and onshore renminbi exchange rates also re-opened in Asia trade on Wednesday morning – a signal that investors expect further depreciation.
週三亞洲早盤交易中，人民幣離岸與在岸匯率之間的缺口也再次顯現——這一跡象表明投資者預計人民幣會進一步貶值。
The latest figure for forex reserves also arrives amid signs that ramped-up efforts to curb heavy capital outflows have begun to interfere with foreign businesses in China. Several European firms have been unable to remit dividends due to new foreign exchange controls that the EU Chamber of Commerce in Beijing called “disruptive to business operations”.
就在中國外匯儲備最新數據公佈之際，有跡象表明，中國不斷加大的限制資本大規模外流的努力已開始影響在華外企。由於新的外匯管制規定，多家歐洲企業一直無法將股息匯出。位於北京的中國歐盟商會(European Chamber of Commerce)稱，這些管制規定“擾亂了業務運營”。
In addition to planned restrictions on foreign mergers and acquisitions meant to limit capital flight disguised as outbound investment, Beijing also recently introduced curbs on gold imports and international renminbi payments to boost its currency and help protect its forex reserves.
爲了限制僞裝成對外投資形式的資本外逃，中國政府已計劃對境外併購交易加以限制。除此以外，中國政府近期還引入了對黃金進口和國際人民幣支付的限制，以提振人民幣匯率並幫助保護其外匯儲備。
