人民幣匯率連跌三日 央行干預

HONG KONG — China on Thursday sought to ease the turbulence its depreciating currency, the renminbi, has set off in global markets, even as it pushed the renminbi lower for the third day in a row.

香港——中國試圖在週四平息由於人民幣貶值而引發的全球市場動盪，儘管當局已經連續三天壓低人民幣的匯率。

China’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, set the renminbi’s official exchange rate to the dollar lower by 1.1 percent on Thursday, bringing the total devaluation since Tuesday to 4.4 percent, the biggest drop in decades.

週四，中國的央行中國人民銀行把人民幣兌美元的官方匯率調低了1.1%，自週二開始的貶值幅度達到了4.4%。這是超過二十年來的最大跌幅。

The renminbi is falling because the government is loosening its tight grip on the currency, but only by a bit.

人民幣匯率的下降是因爲政府正在放寬對匯率的嚴格控制，但放寬的程度仍很小。

China’s slowing economy has created pressure on the renminbi to weaken for more than a year, but instead the government held to its longstanding practice and kept it closely linked to the dollar, which has risen as the United States economy rebounded.

中國經濟放緩對人民幣產生貶值壓力已有一年多的時間，但政府仍一直堅持其長期做法，維持讓人民幣與美元匯率緊密掛鉤，而美元則隨着美國經濟的反彈在升值。

By devaluing the renminbi now, China has delivered a boost to its exporters, whose goods become relatively cheaper for overseas buyers. But the sharp and sudden fall has also raised concerns that the economy is weaker than the official growth rate suggests and prompted questions over the Chinese leadership’s management of the slowdown.

現在，通過讓人民幣貶值，中國爲其出口商提供了助推，因爲中國產品對海外買家的價格會變得相對便宜。但是，人民幣的突然大幅貶值也讓人們擔憂，中國經濟增長情況比官方數據所暗示的還要差，這讓人們質疑中國領導層是否有能力管理經濟放緩。

At an unusual ad hoc news conference on Thursday, officials from the central bank were at pains to explain that the currency had not entered a free fall.

在週四臨時安排的一個罕見的媒體吹風會上，央行官員盡力解釋說，人民幣匯率沒有進入自由落體狀態。

“The central bank has withdrawn from the normal mode of intervention,” Yi Gang, the deputy governor of the bank and the head of the unit that runs China’s foreign exchange system, told reporters in Beijing. “But if you say the market has commonly recognized rules of the game, then those are still the rules that we lay out.”

“央行已經退出了常態式的干預，”中國人民銀行副行長、國家外匯管理局局長易綱在北京對記者說。“但是如果說現在市場有一個公認的遊戲規則，也是我們央行公佈的遊戲規則。”

Mr. Yi was referring to changes to China’s currency system that were announced on Tuesday, as the bank devalued the renminbi by nearly 2 percent. It was the biggest daily drop since 1994, when China’s modern currency system began.

易綱指的是本週二宣佈的中國匯率制度的變化。當天央行將人民幣貶值了近2%，這是自1994年中國啓用現代匯率機制以來的最大單日降幅。

Previously, the central bank would assign a value to the currency each morning, and would allow it to trade up or down by a maximum of 2 percent against the dollar. In practice, it barely budged more than a fraction of percentage point each day.

此前，央行每天早上給人民幣設置一個價值，允許人民幣兌美元匯率在2%的幅度內上下波動。實際操作中，匯率幾乎不會大幅浮動，單日波動幅度遠遠不足1%。

Now, policy makers have said they are giving the market a bigger say by basing the setting of the official exchange rate on the currency’s trading performance, not just on a government decree.

現在，政策制定者說，依據人民幣的交易狀況，而不僅僅是政府指令來設定官方匯率，能讓市場擁有更大的決定權。

Still, central bank officials made clear on Thursday that while they intended to ease their grip somewhat, they would not end it.

儘管如此，央行官員週四也明確表示，雖然他們希望對這種約束稍加放寬，但不會完全放開。

On Wednesday, when the renminbi showed signs of weakening by the maximum 2 percent limit, the central bank was widely reported to have jumped into the currency market, selling dollars to push up the value of the renminbi — which rapidly recovered to close only 1 percent lower.

廣泛有報道稱，本週三，當人民幣有滑落至2%下限的跡象時，央行在外匯市場上採取行動，出售美元以推高人民幣——人民幣的貶值幅度迅速縮小到了1%。

“They intervened massively and drove the exchange rate up,” said Arthur Kroeber, the managing director of Gavekal Dragonomics, a financial consultancy. Still, he added that the new system “is clearly on the spectrum of a much more market-exchange-rate environment.”

“他們大舉入市，干預匯率，”龍洲經訊(GaveKal Dragonomics)董事總經理葛藝豪(Arthur Kroeber)說。不過他也表示，新的匯率制度“明顯更適合市場匯率環境”。

On Thursday, trading was more subdued, though heavy trading volume returned again in the final minutes of activity. The renminbi weakened only very slightly, by 0.2 percent. This suggested that, based on the new system, the central bank would not be under pressure to make another drastic shift in the renminbi’s value when it sets the official exchange rate on Friday.

週四，成交量有所抑制，不過在最後幾分鐘裏再次出現了鉅額的交易。人民幣小幅貶值，下降0.2%。這說明，在新制度的基礎上，央行週五設定官方匯率時，不會承受再次大幅調整人民幣匯率的壓力。

Stock markets across the region recovered modestly on Thursday after the recent sell-off, led by Shanghai, where the main index finished 1.8 percent higher after two days of declines. Other currency markets outside China also stabilized, led by the South Korean won, which rose against the dollar in late Asian trading.

週四，中國股市在經歷了近期的下跌後略有回升。回升是由滬市拉動的，其主要股指在經過兩天的下跌後上漲1.8%。中國以外的其他外匯市場也恢復穩定，企穩趨勢是由韓元推動的，在亞洲匯市尾盤，韓元兌美元匯率有所上升。

Mr. Yi did not directly comment on any intervention when asked about it on Thursday, but hinted it was a tool still at the central bank’s disposal. “When there’s excessive volatility in the market, it can still be effectively managed,” he said.

週四被問及干預舉措時，易綱沒有進行直接評論，但暗示，它仍是由央行支配的工具。他說，“在市場波動過大的時候，能對它進行有效的管理。”