央行再度加息

China's central bank announced in a statement Saturday that it will hike the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points beginning Sunday, which raises the one-year lending rate to 5.81 percent and one-year deposit rate to 2.75 percent.

据新华社报道，央行周六发表声明宣布，从周日起上调基准利率25个基本点，这样一年期贷款基准利率就上调至5.81%，而一年期存款利率升至2.75%。这是今年中国人民银行于10月20日将存贷款基准利率上调25个基本点后第二次上调利率。

周五，央行副行长胡晓炼表示，政府将货币政策从“适度宽松”转向“稳健”以缓解通货膨胀压力，抑制房地产泡沫，中国将利用各种政策工具把货币供应总量调回正常水平。中国的消费价格指数11月份高达5.1%，创28个月以来新高。央行的一份近期调查也显示，满意当下物价水平的公民比例降到11年以来的最低水平，只有17.3%的消费者打算未来加大消费。

China raises interest rate again

China's central bank announced in a statement Saturday that it will hike the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points beginning Sunday, which raises the one-year lending rate to 5.81 percent and one-year deposit rate to 2.75 percent, Xinhua reported. This was the second time this year that the People's Bank of China (PBOC) hiked the interest rate after it increased the benchmark lending and deposit rates by 25 basis points on Oct. 20.

On Friday, the PBOC's Vice Governor Hu Xiaolian said that China would bring its overall money supply to a normal level using various policy tools, as the government shifts its monetary policy from "moderately loose" to "prudent" to rein in rising inflationary pressures and curb asset bubbles. China's consumer price index (CPI) accelerated to a 28-month high in November of 5.1 percent. A recent PBOC survey also showed that the proportion of Chinese citizens satisfied with the current price level had sunk to an 11-year low, and only 17.3 percent of consumers said they intend to consume more in the future.

(China.org.cn December 27, 2010)