《人民日报》提醒中国银行业注意爆炸式放贷

Jason Leow 《人民日报》告诫中国银行业要注意向国家基础建设项目投入的巨额贷款的风险，对由各地方政府担保的数十亿美元债务的安全提出质疑。 今年以来，中国银行业按照政府的命令发放了大量贷款，以帮助旨在提振中国经济的公共建设工程筹措资金。但中国共产党中央委员会机关报《人民日报》周一发表评论文章说，银行不应该认定这些由地方政府担保的贷款是没有风险的。 《人民日报》近年来丧失了一定的权威性，不过仍能反映中国政府高层的想法。 中资银行向国有企业和地方政府敞开放贷，原因之一是它们预计贷款风险最终会由中央政府来承担。 《人民日报》称，今年前六个月，刺激性贷款很可能将超过人民币6万亿（合8,780亿美元），这是自1949年中华人民共和国成立以来新增贷款最多的一年。 该报表示，尽管长期来看刺激性贷款可能有一定的风险，一些放贷机构却任由这类贷款的放贷标准下降。 《人民日报》称，大部分贷款投向了铁路、高速公路和机场建设项目，这些项目最终将交予地方政府管理，地方政府而不是中央政府将保证贷款的偿还。 《人民日报》说，银行常常缺乏地方政府及其财务能力的准确、全面信息，令贷款风险增大。该报称，如果之后地方政府发现自己陷入财务困境，放贷机构的资产质量将受到影响。 《人民日报》称，短期来看，刺激性贷款似乎没有风险。但是长期来看，有些地方政府项目可能不会产生高回报，未来很长时间可能都无法偿还完贷款。一些项目可能难以产生足够的现金流，无力偿还本息。 这篇评论文章再次显示，官方担心刺激性贷款可能给经济造成长期问题。中国银行监管部门敦促商业银行加强对贷款人的审查，以确保贷款没有被滥用。 中国人民银行研究生部部务委员会副主席王自力说，中国银行业放贷规模引起了很多人的关注。银行需要认识到，人们现在把贷款风险视为一个社会问题而不是仅限于银行体系的问题。 The People's Daily newspaper has warned China's banks about the risks of loans they are pouring into state infrastructure projects, calling into question the safety of billions of dollars of debt backed by local governments country-wide. China's banks have unleashed massive credit this year following a government order to help finance public-works construction aimed at pumping up the domestic economy. But banks shouldn't assume that such loans, backed by local governments, are risk-free, the Communist Party newspaper said in a commentary on Monday. The People's Daily has lost some of its authority in recent years, but it can still reflect the thinking of China's top leaders. Chinese banks have lent freely to state-owned enterprises and local governments, partly on expectations that the central government will ultimately underwrite the risk. Stimulus lending in the first six months of the year is likely to exceed six trillion yuan ($878 billion), more new credit issued than in any year since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the paper said. Some lenders have let credit standards slip for stimulus loans even though such loans could bear some risks in the long term, the paper said. Most of the lending goes to railroad, highway and airport building projects that eventually are handed over to local governments to manage, and it is the local authorities -- not central government -- that will guarantee loan repayments, it said. Banks often lack accurate and full information about local governments and their financial viability, increasing their credit risks, it said. Lenders' asset quality will suffer if local governments later find themselves in financial trouble, it said. 'In the short run, it appears that [stimulus lending] is risk-free. But in the long term, there are some local government projects that may not yield high returns and the payback could be due long into the future. Such projects may not generate enough cash flow for either the principal or interest payments,' the paper said. The commentary marks the latest sign of official concern that stimulus lending could be creating long-term problems for the economy. China's bank regulator has urged commercial banks to scrutinize borrowers more closely to ensure that loans aren't misused. 'China's bank lending numbers have caught the attention of many people. Banks need to realize people now regard lending risks as a social problem rather than one confined to the banking system,' said Wang Zili, a vice-chairman of the graduate school of the central bank.