China’s foreign exchange reserves rose last month for the first time since October as downward pressure on the renminbi eased.
Reserves rose to $3.212tn in March, according to new data from the People’s Bank of China. Analysts had expected a drop of $6bn from February, when reserves stood at $3.202tn.
The real (albeit modest) rise of $10bn may help ease concerns over China’s foreign exchange reserves, which fell dramatically following the central bank’s announcement a new exchange-rate fixing regime in August. The surprise announcement led to confusion in global markets and a sudden devaluation against the dollar for China’s currency as capital outflows surged on expectations of further currency depreciation.
Another muddled announcement that the bank would fix the yuan against a currency basket in December appeared to quicken capital outflows, forcing the PBoC to expend more of China’s foreign exchange reserves to defend the currency against further dramatic devaluation. That month saw a record plunge of $107.92bn, followed by a drop of $99.47bn in January.
Reserves fell again in February’s, but by just $28.57bn, down only 0.8 per cent month-on-month. Chinese officials have spoken out against bets against the yuan, but analysts have cautioned that the central bank’s reserves aren’t infinite.
(Market News Provided by VOA)
(Chinese|中文)
随着人民币汇率下行压力减轻，上个月中国外汇储备出现自去年10月份以来的首次上升。
根据中国央行(PBoC)发布的新数据，3月份中国外汇储备上升至3.212万亿美元。分析师原本预计，中国外汇储备会比2月份的3.202万亿美元低60亿美元。
100亿美元的实际上升幅度尽管不算大，但它或许有助于减轻对中国外汇储备的担忧。在去年8月份中国央行公布新的汇率中间价机制之后，中国外汇储备曾急剧减少。当时，突然公布的消息令全球市场晕头转向，并导致人民币兑美元汇率突然贬值。与此同时，人民币进一步贬值的预期也导致资金外流急剧增加。
去年12月，该行再次作出了含混的表态，表示该行会令人民币汇率紧盯一个货币篮子。这一表态似乎加剧了资金外流，迫使该行花费中国更多外储，阻止人民币陷入进一步暴跌。该月中国外汇储备缩水幅度达创纪录的1079.2亿美元。而在之后的1月份，中国外汇储备又减少了994.7亿美元。
今年2月中国外汇储备曾再次下降，不过降幅只有285.7亿美元，同比只下降了0.8%。中国官方曾公开声明反对人们押注人民币贬值，不过分析师则提醒说，中国央行的外汇储备也不是无限的。
