【英语国际】美国企业不敢花钱 现金持有量创纪录

U.S. companies are holding more cash in the bank than at any point on record, underscoring persistent worries about financial markets and about the sustainability of the economic recovery.

The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that nonfinancial companies had socked away $1.84 trillion in cash and other liquid assets as of the end of March, up 26% from a year earlier and the largest-ever increase in records going back to 1952. Cash made up about 7% of all company assets, including factories and financial investments, the highest level since 1963.

While renewed confidence in corporate-bond markets has allowed big companies to raise a record amount of money, many are still hesitant to spend the cash on hiring or expansion amid doubts about the strength of the recovery. They are also anxious to keep cash on hand in case Europe's debt troubles lead to a new market freeze.

'Cash is still king,' said Jeff Hand, chief operating officer at Ross Controls, a Troy, Mich., maker of pneumatic valves and other products that is holding more cash as it struggles to recover from a sharp drop in business last year. 'We're coming out of that, but the uncertainty is still there.'

The rising corporate cash balances could represent a longer-term behavioral shift in the wake of the deepest financial crisis in decades. In the darkest days of late 2008, even large companies faced the threat that they wouldn't be able to do the everyday, short-term borrowing needed to make payrolls and purchase inventory.

'We just went through this liquidity crunch that's made them realize the value of a dollar in hand,' said John Graham, an economist at the Duke Fuqua School of Business.

Even now, banks continue to pull back on lending. The Fed reported Thursday that net lending by the financial sector -- including banks, credit unions and other lenders -- was down 5.4% in March from a year earlier.

The comfort of having cash on hand, though, comes at a high price companies may not be willing to pay for much longer. They are earning almost no interest on their holdings of cash, making it more difficult for them to achieve the returns shareholders typically expect from them. That will put pressure on companies to pare down the cash holdings eventually.

'Stockholders don't want them to keep sitting on cash at a zero return,' said Paul Kasriel, an economist at Northern Trust. 'They're going to use it,' either to increase hiring and investment or to make payouts to shareholders in the form of dividends or share buybacks, he said.

目前美国企业在银行中的存款超过了以往任何时候，凸显出对金融市场和经济复苏能否持久的持续担忧。

美国联邦储备委员会(Fed)周四公布说，截至3月底，非金融类企业已经储备了1.84万亿美元现金和其他流动资产，较去年同期增长26%，创下1952年以来的最大增幅。包括工厂和金融投资在内的企业总资产中约有7%为现金，创下1963年以来的最高水平。

尽管对公司债市场的重建信心使大企业筹集到规模创纪录的资金，但在对经济复苏势头心存怀疑之际，很多企业仍不愿将现金花在招聘人员或扩大业务上。它们还急切地把现金握在手里，以防欧洲债务危机导致新一轮市场冻结。

位于密歇根的气动阀等产品生产商Ross Controls首席营运长汉德(Jeff Hand)说，现金依然是王。该公司在努力从去年的业务严重下滑中恢复之际，把更多的现金握在手里。汉德说，我们正在走出业务低迷，但不确定性依然存在。

企业现金余额的不断上升可能表示，在数十年来最深重的金融危机后，企业行为发生了更长期的改变。在2008年底最黑暗的日子里，即使是大企业也可能无法获得日常短期贷款来满足发放工资和补充库存的需求。

杜克大学商学院经济学家格雷厄姆(John Graham)说，我们刚刚走出了流动性紧缩时期，流动性紧缩让他们认识到了手中现金的重要性。

即使是在现在，银行仍在继续收紧放贷。美联储周四公布说，3月份包括银行、信用合作社和其他放贷机构在内的金融业的净放贷额同比下滑5.4%。

不过，现金在握的安全感需要付出高昂的代价，企业或许不愿太久地付出这样的代价。企业在现金持有上几乎拿不到什么利息，使之更难以实现股东通常希望从企业获得的回报。这会给企业带来压力，使它们最终减少现金持有。

北美信托银行(Northern Trust)经济学家卡斯瑞尔(Paul Kasriel)说，股东们不希望企业继续坐拥现金而没有一分回报。他说，企业会把现金利用起来，要么是加大招聘和投资，要么是以股息或股份回购的方式给予股东回报。