美元升息加大中國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)管理難度

For the second year running, the US Federal Reserve has rudely interrupted the Chinese Communist party’s annual economic planning meeting, which ends today.

美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)(Fed)連續(xù)第二年不客氣地打斷中國(guó)共產(chǎn)黨的年度經(jīng)濟(jì)規(guī)劃會(huì)議。今年的中央經(jīng)濟(jì)工作會(huì)議將于今日結(jié)束。

During last year’s Central Economic Work Conference, the Fed raised interest rates for the first time in a decade. This week the US central bank not only raised rates again but also hinted at three more increases next year, adding to pressure on Chinese officials already struggling to contain capital flight.

去年中央經(jīng)濟(jì)工作會(huì)議期間，美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)進(jìn)行了10年來(lái)的首次加息。本周，美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)不僅再度上調(diào)利率，還暗示明年再加息三次，這加大了本已疲于遏止資本外流的中國(guó)官員的壓力。

The rise and the prospect of further tightening next year mark a potential turning point for the world’s two largest economies. Over the past decade, high yields compared with rock-bottom Fed interest rates have drawn foreign capital into China. This fuelled the renminbi’s decade-long, 37 per cent appreciation against the dollar, which peaked in January 2014.

對(duì)全球最大兩個(gè)經(jīng)濟(jì)體而言，此次加息和明年進(jìn)一步收緊的前景標(biāo)志著一個(gè)潛在轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)。過(guò)去10年里，相對(duì)美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)極低利率的高收益率吸引了大量境外資本進(jìn)入中國(guó)。這推動(dòng)了人民幣對(duì)美元在10年里升值37%，在2014年1月見(jiàn)頂。

But those “hot money” flows are now moving in reverse as the Sino-US rate differential narrows. Aggressive Fed tightening could even one day cause the differential to flip, with bigger yields potentially on offer in the US.

但隨著中美兩國(guó)利差縮小，這些“熱錢(qián)”如今正反向流動(dòng)。美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)激進(jìn)的收緊行動(dòng)有朝一日甚至可能導(dǎo)致利差反轉(zhuǎn)，美國(guó)提供更高的收益率。

As such, an already delicate balancing act for Beijing has grown still more difficult as Chinese officials try to stem the renminbi’s fall against the dollar without choking growth or raising Chinese companies’ already high debt burdens.

因此，北京方面本已脆弱的平衡之舉將變得更加困難——中國(guó)官員試圖在不扼殺經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)或增加中國(guó)企業(yè)本已沉重的債務(wù)負(fù)擔(dān)的情況下，遏止人民幣對(duì)美元貶值。

Some analysts think the People’s Bank of China may raise rates itself — something it has not done since 2011.

一些分析人士認(rèn)為，中國(guó)人民銀行(PBoC)可能選擇加息——這將是自2011年以來(lái)首次。

Jeremy Stevens, an economist at Standard Bank in Beijing, says there is now an “outside risk” of a rate rise next year by the PBoC. The catalyst for such a counter-intuitive decision — China’s economy is growing at its slowest annual pace in a quarter of a century — could be the renminbi, which has fallen more than 6 per cent against the dollar this year with further to go.

標(biāo)準(zhǔn)銀行(Standard Bank)駐北京經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家杰里米•斯蒂芬斯(Jeremy Stevens)表示，現(xiàn)在的“外圍風(fēng)險(xiǎn)”之一是中國(guó)央行明年加息。中國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)增速已降至25年來(lái)最低水平，這樣一個(gè)與正常預(yù)期相反的決定的催化劑可能是人民幣，今年以來(lái)人民幣對(duì)美元貶值逾6%，且貶值還在繼續(xù)。

Yesterday the PBoC set the renminbi’s daily dollar “reference rate” at 6.93. “It wouldn’t shock me if the renminbi is at 7.3 or 7.4 by March,” Mr Stevens says. “At some point they have to decide to do something to support the currency.”

昨日，中國(guó)央行將人民幣對(duì)美元“參考匯率”設(shè)在1美元兌6.93元人民幣。“如果到明年3月，人民幣對(duì)美元貶值至1美元兌7.3或7.4元人民幣，我不會(huì)感到震驚，”斯蒂芬斯說(shuō)，“在某一個(gè)時(shí)間點(diǎn)，他們不得不決定出手支撐人民幣。”

The Fed’s move is a reminder of the many risks Beijing faces in the wake of Donald Trump’s surprise victory in last month’s US presidential election.

美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)此舉提醒世人，在唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)上月出乎意料贏得美國(guó)總統(tǒng)大選之后，北京面臨著諸多風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。

Most assessments of “Trump risk” in Beijing have focused on the president-elect’s disregard for the “One China” policy that has been a central pillar of Sino-US relations for more than four decades.

北京方面對(duì)“特朗普風(fēng)險(xiǎn)”的多數(shù)評(píng)估迄今都聚焦于這位當(dāng)選總統(tǒng)對(duì)“一個(gè)中國(guó)”政策的無(wú)視，該項(xiàng)政策是40多年來(lái)中美關(guān)系的中心支柱。

But the Fed’s suggestion that there could be three further rate rises next year shows that, for China, the greatest shocks from Mr Trump’s victory may instead stem from the inflationary consequences of his promised tax cuts and infrastructure stimulus.

但美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)明年可能再加息三次表明，對(duì)中國(guó)來(lái)說(shuō)，特朗普勝選帶來(lái)的最大沖擊可能源于他承諾的減稅和基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施刺激計(jì)劃的通脹后果。

Even before the economic ramifications of Mr Trump’s victory began to be digested, Beijing moved last month to stem outflows by implementing a series of capital controls. In its attempt to keep the renminbi from falling too far, too fast against the dollar, China’s central bank has also been selling down its forex reserves, which have fallen 25 per cent to $3tn since early 2014.

即使在特朗普當(dāng)選的經(jīng)濟(jì)影響還沒(méi)開(kāi)始得到消化之前，北京方面上月已實(shí)施一系列資本管制措施以遏止資本外流。為了讓人民幣兌美元不致跌得太多、太快，中國(guó)央行也一直在拋售外匯儲(chǔ)備。自2014年初以來(lái)，中國(guó)外匯儲(chǔ)備已經(jīng)減少了25%，至3萬(wàn)億美元。

As bond and currency markets factor in expectations of higher US growth and inflation under Mr Trump, the pressure is continuing to build.

隨著債市和匯市計(jì)入特朗普上任后更高的美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)和通脹預(yù)期，上述壓力仍在增加。

“The US yield is moving up, putting pressure on renminbi and capital outflows,” says Wang Tao, China economist at UBS in Hong Kong. “That tightens domestic liquidity, which the PBoC has not fully offset, partly out of concerns about the exchange rate.”

瑞銀(UBS)駐香港中國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家汪濤表示：“美國(guó)收益率正在上升，給人民幣和資本外流帶來(lái)壓力。這收緊了國(guó)內(nèi)流動(dòng)性，而中國(guó)央行尚未完全抵消這種情況，部分原因是擔(dān)心匯率。”

The PBoC has guided Chinese money-market rates higher in recent weeks, partly in anticipation of the Fed move. “Monetary conditions in China have tightened without a rate hike,” notes Chen Long at Gavekal Dragonomics.

中國(guó)央行最近幾周在指引中國(guó)貨幣市場(chǎng)利率上升，部分原因是預(yù)期美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)將加息。龍洲經(jīng)訊(GaveKal Dragonomics)的陳龍指出：“中國(guó)的貨幣狀況在沒(méi)有加息的情況下就已經(jīng)收緊了。”

Others are calling for more dramatic action by the central bank. This month Sheng Songcheng, a PBoC adviser, told a forum in Beijing that the priority of monetary policy should be to boost market confidence in the exchange rate. He argued that the central bank should consider interest-rate rises to achieve this.

其他市場(chǎng)人士則呼吁中國(guó)央行采取更為戲劇性的行動(dòng)。中國(guó)央行顧問(wèn)盛松成本月在北京一個(gè)論壇上表示，貨幣政策的重點(diǎn)應(yīng)該是提振市場(chǎng)對(duì)匯率的信心。他認(rèn)為中國(guó)央行應(yīng)考慮加息來(lái)做到這一點(diǎn)。

Zhu Ning, professor of finance at Tsinghua University, says expectations of a Chinese rate increase have “become more mainstream” over recent months, principally because of “the strength of the US [economic] revival and the tempo of Fed rate rises”.

清華大學(xué)金融學(xué)教授朱寧表示，近幾個(gè)月來(lái)，中國(guó)加息預(yù)期“變得更加主流”，主要是因?yàn)?ldquo;美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)復(fù)蘇的力度以及美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)加息進(jìn)度。”

Mr Zhu also points to inflationary pressures building at home. Some analysts expect that Chinese producer price inflation, after years of deflation, could be as high as 5 per cent by March.

朱寧還指出，國(guó)內(nèi)通脹壓力不斷累積。一些分析師預(yù)計(jì)，經(jīng)過(guò)多年通縮后，中國(guó)的工業(yè)生產(chǎn)者出廠(chǎng)價(jià)格指數(shù)(PPI)到明年3月可能漲至高達(dá)5%。