中国外储符合流动性标准 China defends veracity of foreign exchange reserves data

China's official foreign exchange reserves only include highly liquid assets, a top central banker said on Sunday, seeking to reassure investors that authorities have enough ammunition to prevent a sharp fall in the renminbi.

中国央行高官周日表示，中国的官方外汇储备只包括高流动性资产。此言意在让投资者放心：中国当局有足够弹药阻止人民币大幅下跌。

Investor sentiment towards China's currency has turned sharply negative since a surprise devaluation in August, amid unprecedented capital outflows and concern about the health of the economy. Concern over China's currency policy sparked a global market sell-off early this year.

自去年8月人民币意外贬值以来，在中国遭遇空前的资本外流、各方对中国经济健康状况感到担忧的情况下，投资者对人民币的情绪已明显转向负面。在今年初，围绕中国汇率政策的担忧曾引发一轮全球市场抛售。

The People's Bank of China has drawn on its foreign exchange reserves to curb renminbi weakness, but analysts believe the central bank may soon be forced to abandon this policy to prevent reserves dropping below dangerous levels.

中国人民银行(PBoC)近期动用其外汇储备遏制人民币疲弱，但分析师们相信，央行可能很快被迫放弃这一政策，以免外汇储备降至危险水平。

Some bearish investors have also expressed scepticism about the reliability of China's official foreign exchange reserves data, which showed reserves at $3.2tn at the end of January — still the world's largest despite declining for 19 months.

一些悲观投资者还对中国官方外汇储备数据的可靠性表示怀疑。根据官方数据，1月底中国外汇储备为3.2万亿美元，在连续19个月下降后仍是世界上最大的。

Sceptics say the headline total of reserves exaggerates the resources available to support the renminbi since they suspect it includes illiquid assets such as foreign real estate and private-equity investments that cannot be readily deployed in currency markets.

怀疑论者表示，整体储备数据夸大了可用来支持人民币汇率的资源，因为他们怀疑该数据包括非流动性资产，如海外房地产和私募股权投资，此类资产不容易投入汇市。

Kyle Bass, the US hedge fund manager who has wagered billions that the renminbi and other Asian currencies will fall, believes China's true reserves are more than $1tn below the government's official total. Veteran investor George Soros has also suggested the renminbi may fall further.

豪赌人民币和其他亚洲货币将下跌的美国对冲基金经理凯尔•巴斯(Kyle Bass)相信，中国的真实外汇储备低于政府发布的官方数字，两者相差超过1万亿美元。投资老手乔治•索罗斯(George Soros)也提出，人民币可能进一步下跌。

Yi Gang, PBoC deputy governor who until January was also head of the foreign exchange regulator, said on Sunday that only highly liquid assets are included in the closely watched headline reserves figure.

中国人民银行副行长、直到1月还兼任国家外汇管理局(SAFE)局长的易纲周日表示，受到密切关注的整体外汇储备数据只包括高流动性资产。

"I can clearly tell everyone here, those assets that don't meet liquidity standards are entirely deducted from official foreign exchange reserves," Mr Yi said at a press conference on the sidelines of an annual parliament meeting in Beijing.

“我清楚的告诉大家，这些不符合流动性标准的资产全部扣除在官方外汇储备外，比如不流动的股权投资、注资、流动性不好的。”易纲在北京举行的全国政协会议间隙的一个记者会上表示。

"For example, some illiquid equity investments, some capital injections and some other assets where liquidity isn't good are entirely outside our foreign exchange reserves."

除了海外房地产和私募股权投资外，分析师们质疑央行近期动用外汇向国有政策性银行的注资——包括去年向中国国家开发银行(CDB)和中国进出口银行(Export-Import Bank of China)注入至少930亿美元——是否已被扣掉。

Beyond foreign real estate and private equity, analysts have questioned whether PBoC's recent use of foreign currency to inject capital into state-owned policy banks, including at least $93bn injected into China Development Bank and the Export-Import Bank of China last year. There is also uncertainty about whether China's capital contributions to two newly launched multilateral development banks, the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Brics bank, have been deducted.

此外，对于中国向两家新成立的多边开发银行——亚洲基础设施投资银行(AIIB)和金砖国家新开发银行(New Development Bank)——的出资是否已被扣掉也不确定。

China's central bank last year agreed to more stringent disclosure requirements under International Monetary Fund guidelines known as the Special Data Dissemination Standard.

中国央行去年同意遵守国际货币基金组织(IMF)的更严格披露要求——数据公布特殊标准(SDDS)。

"This liquidity classification is conducted strictly according to the IMF's standard. So the official foreign exchange reserves data that we currently report definitely meets liquidity standards. Those non-liquid assets definitely aren't included in what we report."

“这是严格根据国际货币基金组织标准划分的。现在公布的官方外汇储备一定是符合流动性标准的，不流动的资产不包括在现在公布的外汇储备之内。”

China will release February reserves data on Monday.

中国定于周一发布2月外汇储备数据。