CHINA RATE RISE TARGETS SOARING FOOD PRICES

 
By Jamil Anderlini in Beijing 
Monday, September 17, 2007
 
China's central bank raised interest rates for the second time in less than a month yesterday in an attempt to rein in soaring food prices, excessive bank lending and bubbles in the property and stock markets.

The People's Bank of China lifted the one-year benchmark deposit rate by 27 basis points to 3.87 per cent and the one-year lending rate by the same amount to 7.29 per cent, effective immediately. The PBOC has now lifted rates five times this year as it strives to contain headline inflation that reached 6.5 per cent in August, the fastest increase in more than a decade.

The rising consumer price index is being driven mostly by food staples such as pork and eggs but the world is watching closely to see whether inflation will spill over into other sectors, such as manufactured goods, in which China has helped slow the rate of price rises for a decade.

As well as raising interest rates, the central bank has lifted seven times this year the amount that banks must hold with it - the so-called reserve requirement ratio. Most recently, on September 6, it announced it would lift the ratio by another 50bp to12.5 per cent of banks' total deposits.

Wu Xiaoling, deputy -central bank governor, said yesterday Chinese banks were not heeding the central bank's directives to slow lending growth.

Banks are lending out money much faster than the central bank's target, with new loans reaching Rmb3,080bn ($409bn, £202bn) in the first eight months of the year, 97 per cent of the total for the whole of last year.

Excessive liquidity in the economy is being fed by the country's huge trade surplus, which grew $25bn in August to $162bn for the year to date - a 71 per cent increase from a year earlier.

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中国央行再次加息

 
英国《金融时报》雅米尔•安代利尼(Jamil Anderlini)北京报道
2007年9月17日 星期一
 
中国人民银行(PBoC)上周五上调利率，以抑制不断飙升的食品价格、过度的银行放贷，以及房地产和股市泡沫。这是中国央行在不到一个月的时间内第二次宣布加息。

中国央行将一年期存款基准利率上调27个基点至3.87%，一年期贷款利率上调27个基点至7.29%，于次日起生效。中国央行今年已5次上调利率，以抑制整体通货膨胀。8月份，中国的通胀率已达到6.5%，为逾10年来最大增幅。

中国的消费价格指数(CPI)不断上涨，主要是因为猪肉和鸡蛋等基本食品涨价，但全球正密切关注其通胀是否将蔓延至其它领域，例如制造业产品。在该领域，10年来中国帮助减缓了价格上涨速度。

除上调利率以外，中国央行今年还7次调高了银行存款准备金率。最近一次是在9月6日，中国央行宣布将银行存款准备金率再次上调50个基点，至12.5%。

中国央行副行长吴晓灵上周五表示，中国各银行没有遵从央行关于放缓信贷增长的劝说。

中国各银行的放贷速度远远超出央行目标——今年前8个月，新增贷款累计达到3.08万亿元人民币（合4090亿美元），相当于去年全年水平的97%。

中国经济体系内过剩的流动性源于其巨额的贸易顺差。8月份，中国的贸易顺差增长250亿美元，今年迄今已达到1620亿美元，较上年同期增长71%。