中国外汇储备5个月来首次增加

China’s foreign exchange reserves rose last monthfor the first time since October as downwardpressure on the renminbi eased.

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。

Reserves rose to $3.212tn in March, according tonew data from the People’s Bank of China. Analystshad expected a drop of $6bn from February, whenreserves stood at $3.202tn.

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。

The real (albeit modest) rise of $10bn may help ease concerns over China’s foreign exchangereserves, which fell dramatically following the central bank’s announcement a new exchange-rate fixing regime in August. The surprise announcement led to confusion in globalmarkets and a sudden devaluation against the dollar for China’s currency as capital outflowssurged on expectations of further currency depreciation.

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。

Another muddled announcement that the bank would fix the yuan against a currency basketin December appeared to quicken capital outflows, forcing the PBoC to expend more of China’sforeign exchange reserves to defend the currency against further dramatic devaluation. Thatmonth saw a record plunge of $107.92bn, followed by a drop of $99.47bn in January.

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。

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 havecautioned that the central bank’s reserves aren’t infinite.

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。