外汇储备令中国“骑虎难下”2007年01月23日10:45
INVESTING A TRILLION HERE, ATRILLIONTHERE
When you have a tiger by the tail, what can you do? Changingyourgrip may bring temporary respite, or calamity. Most likely itwillmake little difference. Chinas plans to diversify itsever-growingdollar mountain, while vague, are a welcome sign thatthe countrywill not try to sustain the unsustainable forever. Theyare not,however, meaningful steps towards repairing the cracks intheChinese economy.
Chinas foreign reserves, the worlds largest, are now more thanatrillion dollars. They are expected to increase by severalhundredbillion dollars more over the next year. Small wonder thereis somuch interest in how they are managed and where they areinvested.Much of the money is now in US Treasury bonds, butfollowing thisweekends announcement by Wen Jiabao, Chinaspremier, it mayeventually be managed more ambitiously, and by oneor more newagencies.
So far, so good, but the new investment policy would beseverelyconstrained by Chinas desire to peg the renminbi to thedollar. Itwould be a good time to allow the renminbi to appreciate.Chinawould lose money on its dollar assets, but it would lose stillmoreif it delayed the move. From the point of view of the rest oftheworld, an eventual dollar depreciation is probably inevitableaspart of a process of global rebalancing. It would hurt, butthealternative rebalancing scenario, a deep US recession, wouldbeworse.
If China establishes a Singapore-style investment agency,bringingin private fund managers to oversee investments in foreignassets,that might be workable even on a large scale. But if newagenciesare opaque bureaucracies, they are likely to achieve thetwinown-goals of making poor investment decisions whileaggravatingalready oversensitive foreign governments.
The Chinese economy needs further liberalisation. If thathadhappened, the debate would not now be revolving around howtheChinese state might better manage a trillion dollars ofassets.Private investors from China should be given more freedom toinvestabroad. Gradually relaxing capital controls is risky, butwouldgive Chinas banks an incentive to reform theirlendingpractices.
Most importantly, China needs more domestic consumption. Suchalarge economy cannot rely on export-led growth forever. TheChinesegovernment should provide a better social security net. Thatwouldembolden poorer citizens and stimulate Chinas internalmarket. Iffunded by spending less on acquiring US Treasury bonds,suchspending would also allow the renminbi to rise, rebalancingtheeconomy towards more domestic spending.
Chinese economic reform has been a tentative, experimentalprocessfor three decades. That caution has served China well, butit isimportant to keep going. Delay will only make it more painfulto letgo of the tigers tail. (接下页)
外汇储备令中国“骑虎难下”
当你抓住了老虎尾巴,你能做些什么?或许抓个不同的部位会暂时缓解局面,但也可能大祸临头。
最大的可能性是几乎毫无差别。中国计划将其日益增长的美元外汇储备多样化,尽管措辞含糊,但也是一个受欢迎的信号,因为它表明中国不会试图永远维持无法维持的局面。然而,对于修补中国经济的裂痕,这些措施的意义并不是很大。
目前,中国的外汇储备已超过1万亿美元,居世界首位,预计今后一年还将增加数千亿美元。难怪人们对于其管理方式和投资去向有着如此浓厚的兴趣。目前,这部分资金大多投资于美国国债,但在中国国家总理温家宝上周末的声明发表后,中国政府或许最终会新成立一个或多个机构对其进行更积极的管理。
到目前为止,一切顺利。但中国力图让人民币与美元挂钩,这将严重制约新的投资政策。现在是允许人民币升值的好时机。美元资产贬值会给中国政府带来损失,但如果推迟行动,损失将更加惨重。从世界其它国家的角度来看,美元的最终贬值可能是不可避免的,这是全球经济格局调整过程的一部分。这种调整会带来阵痛,但另一种调整方式——美国经济严重衰退——则会更加糟糕。
如果中国成立一个新加坡式的政府投资机构,引进私人基金经理管理对外国资产的投资,即使规模较大或许也是可行的。但如果新成立的机构是不透明的官僚机构,那么它们可能会自摆两记乌龙——做出拙劣的投资决策,同时激怒已经过于敏感的外国政府。
中国经济需要进一步开放。如果这种情况已经发生,人们现在讨论的中心就不会是中国如何才能更好地管理1万亿美元资产。中国的私人投资者应当获得更多在海外投资的自由。逐渐放开资本管制有风险,但它会刺激中国各银行改进信贷流程。
最重要的是,中国需要提升国内消费。这样一个大型经济体不可能永远依赖于出口拉动经济增长。中国政府应当提供更健全的社会保障体系,这将提升较贫穷的中国居民的安全感,刺激中国国内市场的发展。如果通过减少购买美国国债来为社会保障体系提供资金支持,那么这方面的支出也会促使人民币升值,使中国经济向国内支出增加的方向调整。
30年来,中国一直在以试探、实验性的方式进行经济改革。这种谨慎做法很适合中国,但重要的是要继续改革。拖延只会让放开老虎尾巴的后果更严重。(编辑:赵露)