China ordered its banks yesterday to hold back more money as reserves in a new move to curb lending and rising inflation that communist leaders worry might stir unrest.
The order was the second reserve increase in two weeks and came as Beijing tries to restore normal financial conditions and curb inflation after its recovery from the global crisis.
China’s state-owned banking industry was ordered to set aside an additional 0.5 percent of deposits as reserves, effective Nov. 29.
The reserves vary by institution, but could be as high as 19 percent for the biggest commercial lenders.
Economists say the flood of money coursing through the economy from China’s stimulus spending and heavy bank lending were a key factor in pushing inflation to a 25-month high of 4.4 percent last month. Politically sensitive food costs jumped 10.1 percent.
Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s government yesterday unveiled its latest attempt to cool the red-hot property market, amid public anger at spiraling prices and fears, highlighted by the IMF, of a real-estate bubble.
Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang (曾俊華) announced a sliding scale of new stamp duties that was to take effect yesterday at midnight, aimed at restraining what he called “short-term speculative” inflows into the glitzy financial hub’s property market.
Under the levies outlined by Tsang, anyone reselling a property within six months of purchase would be subject to a hefty 15 percent stamp duty. A 10 percent duty would apply to sales within six to 12 months and 5 percent to sales within 12 to 24 months.
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