A growing number of mainland residents plan to increase their savings as opposed to increasing spending, a quarterly survey conducted by China's central bank suggests.               A growing number of mainland residents plan to increase their savings as opposed to increasing spending, a quarterly survey conducted by China's central bank suggests. About 36.8 percent of 20,000 respondents surveyed said "more saving" is a better option at present than "more spending," up 2.2 percentage points from a quarter ago, the People's Bank of China said on its Website yesterday. The survey was conducted in 50 cities. The increase in the number of people planning to save more ends two straight quarterly decreases, the report said. "The new interest rate hike had a big effect on residences' trends for more saving," the central bank said. On August 19, the central bank raised its deposits rates, the first hike in almost two years, with the one-year rate rising from 2.25 percent to 2.52 percent. About 68.2 percent of respondents said they have deposits at banks, up 1.7 percentage points from the previous quarter. The rate hike has also had a negative effect on the real estate market. The central bank raised lending rates on August 19, the second hike in less than four months. Though it also allows commercial banks to offer a 15 percent discount on individual mortgages, up from the previous 10 percent discount, the hike still hit real estate consumption. About 17.5 percent of respondents said they plan to buy property in the next three months, down 0.1 percentage points from a quarter ago. Respondents also said savings accounts are more attractive than stocks. Only 12.9 percent of survey respondents said they plan to buy more stocks, down from a record high of 15.8 percent in the second quarter. A report from the Shanghai branch of the central bank earlier this month showed that yuan-denominated deposits in local banks rose in August following the interest rate increase. (Shanghai Daily)

央行最新一項季度調查表明，越來越多的大陸居民傾向于存錢，而不是花錢。 據中國人民銀行昨天在其網站上發布的消息，在參加此項調查的2萬人中，約36.8%的人說，在目前狀況下，"多存錢"比"多花錢"明智，這個比例比上季度的調查高出2.2的百分點。此項調查共在50個城市內進行。 調查報告中提到，計劃多存錢的居民增多結束了連續兩個季度下跌的趨勢。 央行說，居民儲蓄的增加和存款利率的上調有很大關系。 8月19日，央行上調存款利率，將年利率從2.25％調至2.52％，這是兩年來央行首次上調存款利率。 68.2％的調查對象說他們有銀行儲蓄，比上季度的調查結果高出1.7個百分點。 此外，利率上調對房地產市場也產生了不利影響。 央行于8月19日上調貸款利率，距上次上調還不到四個月。雖然央行允許商業銀行為個人房貸提供的利率優惠從先前的10％升至15％，但貸款利率的上調還是對房地產的消費造成了影響。 約17.5的調查對象說，他們打算在三個月內買套房子，比上季度調查結果低0.1個百分點。 此外，調查對象認為銀行儲蓄要比投資股票安全的多。 只有12.9％的調查對象說他們打算繼續投資股票，低于上季度15.8％的歷史最高點。 央行上海分行本月早些時候公布的一份報告顯示，存款利率上調后，上海當地銀行8月份的人民幣儲蓄量有所增加。 (英語點津姍姍編輯)