大额存单助推中国利率市场化 China marks milestone in rates deregulation push

As gyrations in China’s stock market captivated the world’s attention in recent months, less eye-catching but ultimately more important changes were under way in the country’s Rmb133tn ($21tn) market for bank deposits.

最近几个月，中国股市的大幅震荡引起了全球的关注。然而，在中国133万亿元人民币（合21万亿美元）的银行存款市场，却在发生一些不那么吸引眼球、但本质上更加重要的变化。

Chinese lenders sold certificates of deposit to the public at unregulated interest rates for the first time in the second quarter, the central bank has revealed, marking a milestone in the government’s push to let market forces set the price of money.

中国央行透露，今年第二季度，中国多家银行首次以不受监管的利率面向公众发行大额存单。在中国政府展开的让市场力量成为资金成本决定因素的努力中，此举有着里程碑式的意义。

Eliminating government control over interest rates is seen as a crucial step in shifting China’s growth model away from state-directed investment and forcing banks to allocate funds more efficiently.

要使中国的增长模式摆脱对政府主导的投资的依赖、并迫使银行更有效地配置资金，取消政府对利率的控制被视为关键的一步。

The longstanding cap on bank deposit rates has ensured a plentiful supply of low-cost capital for state factories and public infrastructure projects but has also led to wasteful investment and spiralling debt.

长期以来对银行存款利率施加的上限，确保了国有工厂及公共基建项目能够获得充裕的廉价资金供应。然而，这也催生了大量无效投资和不断攀升的债务。

Cheap deposit funding has also discouraged banks from seeking out smaller borrowers willing to pay higher interest rates, since lenders earn fat margins even on conservative loans. Now, as China seeks growth based on efficiency gains rather than the construction of more new factories, roads and houses, it wants banks to lend more to companies that generate higher returns.

廉价的存款资金，还导致银行不愿费力寻找那些愿支付较高利率的中小借款者，因为即使是保守的贷款也能给银行带来丰厚的利润。如今，在中国试图通过提高效率而不是建设更多新工厂、公路和住房实现增长之际，中国政府希望银行向能产生更高回报的企业多放贷。

“Promoting CDs substantively achieves partial interest-rate marketisation and is necessary preparation for full liberalisation of deposit rates,” said Li Kelin, economist at Minsheng Securities in Shanghai.

上海民生证券(Minsheng Securities)经济学家李奇霖表示：“推广大额存单在实质上实现了利率的部分市场化，是对全面放开存款利率管制的必要准备。”

The deposit-rate ceiling is the one remaining interest rate still set by government fiat, after the People’s Bank of China removed the floor on bank lending rates in 2013. Bond and money-market interest rates already float freely.

2013年中国央行取消银行贷款利率下限后，存款利率上限就成了仅剩的一个仍由政府指令设定的利率。目前，中国债券利率和货币市场利率已经能够自由浮动。

Market-based interest rates are also a key criterion that the International Monetary Fund will use to decide whether it will endorse the renminbi as an official reserve currency later this year. Zhou Xiaochuan, PBoC governor, said in March that the deposit-rate cap could be lifted by the end of 2015.

今年晚些时候国际货币基金组织(IMF)决定是否授予人民币“官方储备货币”身份时，市场化的利率也是一项关键评判指标。3月份，中国央行行长周小川表示，存款利率限制或将在今年底前取消。

Chinese lenders issued Rmb682bn in certificates of deposit to companies and individuals in June and July, the PBoC said in its quarterly monetary policy report published on Friday. “In the course of interest-rate marketisation, many countries have used large-denomination certificates of deposit as an important method for pushing ahead with reform,” the central bank said.

中国央行在上周五发布的季度货币政策报告中表示，今年6月和7月，中国各银行向企业和个人发行了6820亿元人民币大额存单。中国央行表示：“从国际经验看，不少国家在存款利率市场化的过程中，都曾以发行大额存单作为推进改革的重要手段。”

Chinese certificates of deposit currently require a minimum investment of Rmb30,000 for individuals and Rmb10m for companies. The high threshold is designed to limit their mass-market appeal, thus avoiding an abrupt rise in banks’ funding costs as customers switch from regulated to unregulated deposits. But analysts expect these thresholds will gradually be lowered.

目前，中国的大额存单要求，个人投资者认购起点金额不低于30万元人民币，机构投资者认购起点金额不低于1000万元人民币。这一高门槛旨在限制它们对大众市场的吸引力，避免因投资者从受监管的存款转向不受监管的存款而导致银行资金成本飙升。不过，分析师预计这些门槛会逐渐降低。

The central bank has cut benchmark interest rates four times since November to boost the slowing economy. But it has also granted banks increased freedom to set actual deposit rates above the benchmark. Deposit rates are now allowed to float as much as 50 per cent above the benchmark, up from only 10 per cent before November last year.

自去年11月以来，为提振放缓的经济，中国央行已四次下调基准利率。但它同时也赋予银行更大的自由度来将实际存款利率设定在基准利率之上。目前，存款利率允许比基准利率上浮至多50%，而去年11月前至多只能上浮10%。

In practice, the PBoC has informally instructed large banks not to raise deposit rates by the legal limit, in order to prevent them from passing higher funding costs on to borrowers amid a slowing economy.

在实际操作中，中国央行非正式地指示大型银行不要把存款利率提高至法定上限处。此举的目的是在经济放缓之际，防止这些银行将更高的资金成本转嫁给借款方。

Bank certificates of deposit were sold in recent months at 40 per cent above the benchmark — still below the legal limit for normal deposits but above the rate big banks are actually offering for normal deposits.

最近几个月发售的银行大额存单，利率比基准利率高40%。这一利率仍低于一般存款的法定上限，但高于大型银行一般存款的实际存款利率。