【英语财经】中国再次降息降准以提振经济 Beijing cuts interest rates in bid to revive economy

China’s central bank cut interest rates yesterday and said that it would pump liquidity into the banking sector in a bid to boost the country’s slowing economy and stem a slump in share prices that has alarmed global investors.

The People’s Bank of China said after the market close that it had reduced its benchmark one-year lending rate

by 25 basis points to 4.6 per cent with immediate effect, the fifth time it has cut rates since November.

The bank also cut the one-year

savings rate by 25 basis points to 1.75 per cent and said that it would lower the reserve requirement ratio for big banks by 50 basis points to 18 per cent from September 6, in effect injecting liquidity into a banking sector that has become reluctant to lend.

The move followed a day of turmoil on global equity and commodity markets, as an 8.5 per cent slump in Chinese shares on Monday sparked panic about an economy that accounts for 15 per cent of world gross domestic product and has long been seen as an engine of global growth. Those concerns had been rising since China surprised markets by devaluing the renminbi on August 11.

In response to Monday’s plunge, European exchanges had seen their sharpest falls since the 2008 crisis and the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1,000 points on opening.

Chinese stocks resumed their fall

yesterday, dropping a further 7.6 per cent to their lowest level since December. The Shanghai market has fallen 22 per cent over the past four trading sessions, its fastest retreat since daily price move limits were introduced in 1996.

But European and US shares clawed back losses, with the FTSE 100 closing up 3.1 per cent, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 up 4.2 per cent and the S&P 500 rising 2.4 per cent in morning trading.

Meanwhile, investors pulled money out of haven assets such as US Treasurys, German government bonds and gold. Emerging market currencies

rallied and commodities, which had been trading at their lowest levels since the financial crisis, rebounded.

In a statement announcing the interest rate cut, the PBoC said that given the “large fluctuations” in global financial markets, “there is a need for more

flexible use of monetary policy tools”.

Policymakers in Europe and Asia sought to allay fears that the China share slump would have a knock-on effect on the global economy.

Vítor Constancio, vice-president of the European Central Bank, said it was too early for it to respond, adding that China’s economy was “not decelerating so much to justify the rout in the stock market”. He said the size of its stock market was “not so big” and “not so

connected” with activity on the ground.

Additional reporting by Claire Jones in Mannheim

中国央行昨日宣布降息，并表示将向银行业注入流动性，此举旨在提振国内经济增长，以及阻止股市下跌——中国股市下跌让全球投资者感到震惊。

中国人民银行(PBoC)在昨日市场收盘后表示，自2015年8月26日起，一年期贷款基准利率降低25个基点，至4.6%。这是中国自去年11月以来第五次降息。

中国人民银行还将一年期存款利率降低25个基点，至1.75%，并表示，9月6日起将大型银行的存款准备金率降低50个基点，至18%，这实际上相当于向如今不愿放贷的银行业注入流动性。

在中国央行宣布降息降准的前一天，全球股市和大宗商品市场大幅波动，中国股市周一暴跌8.5%，引发人们对其经济的担忧——中国经济占到全球GDP的15%，多年来被视为全球增长的引擎。自中国令人意外地在8月11日让人民币贬值以来，这些担忧逐步升级。

中国股市周一暴跌后，欧洲股市出现自2008年危机以来的最为剧烈的下跌，而美国的道琼斯工业平均指数(Dow Jones Industrial Average)开盘暴跌1000点。

中国股市昨日进一步下跌7.6%，至去年12月以来最低水平。上海股市在过去4个交易日下跌22%，是1996年推出日涨跌幅限制以来最快的下跌。

但欧洲和美国股市收复了失地，富时100指数(FTSE 100)收盘上涨3.1%，富时Eurofirst 300指数上涨4.2%，标普500指数(S&P 500)早盘上涨2.4%。

与此同时，投资者将资金转出美国国债、德国国债和黄金等避险资产。新兴市场货币和已跌至金融危机以来最低水平的大宗商品价格反弹。

中国央行在宣布降息时表示，鉴于全球金融市场出现“较大波动”，“需要更加灵活地运用货币政策工具”。

欧洲和亚洲各国的政策制定者寻求消除如下担忧，即中国股市暴跌将对全球经济产生连带影响。

欧洲央行(ECB)副行长维托尔?康斯坦西奥(Vítor Constancio)表示，现在做出回应还为时尚早，他补充称，中国经济“并未恶化到股市有理由暴跌的地步”。他说，中国股市规模“没有那么大”，而且“与经济活动的关联也没有那么紧密”。

克莱尔?琼斯(Claire Jones)曼海姆补充报道

译者/邹策