People's Daily Online, Beijing, March 20 (Reporter Du Yanfei) The State Administration of Foreign Exchange recently announced the data on foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks and foreign-related receipts and payments by banks on behalf of customers in February this year.
Statistics show that in February, banks settled foreign exchange of US$160.1 billion and sold foreign exchange of US$155.9 billion, with a surplus of US$4.2 billion in foreign exchange settlement and sales; the foreign-related income of banks on behalf of customers was US$412.6 billion, and foreign payments were US$419.1 billion, with a deficit of US$6.5 billion in foreign-related receipts and payments.
"my country's foreign exchange market is generally running smoothly." Wang Chunying, deputy director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and spokesperson, said that in February, banks' foreign exchange settlement and sales had a surplus of US$4.2 billion. Supply and demand in the foreign exchange market are basically balanced.
The foreign-related receipts and payments of enterprises and other non-banking sectors tended to be balanced, showing a slight deficit of US$6.5 billion.
As of the end of February, the balance of foreign exchange reserves was US$3,213.8 billion, which remained basically stable compared with the end of January.
Data show that cross-border funds related to the real economy such as trade and investment continued to have a net inflow.
In February, the surplus of cross-border receipts and payments of trade in goods was US$25.7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 41%; the surplus of cross-border receipts and payments of direct investment was US$8.8 billion, of which the net capital inflow of foreign direct investment in China maintained a relatively high scale and grew steadily year-on-year.
"For the foreign exchange inflows caused by the above-mentioned trade and investment activities, some domestic entities will settle foreign exchange, and the other part will be held in the form of foreign currency deposits." Wang Chunying said that from January to February, the exchange rate settlement (the difference between the customer's foreign exchange sold to the bank and the customer's foreign-related foreign exchange income) Exchange rate) was 62.4%, a year-on-year decrease of 3.2 percentage points; foreign exchange sales (the ratio of customers’ purchases of foreign exchange from banks to their foreign-related foreign exchange expenditures) was 61%, a year-on-year decrease of 0.5 percentage points.
Wang Chunying said that at present, the external environment is still complex and severe. The epidemic and high inflation make it more difficult for countries to adjust monetary policies, and high valuations increase the vulnerability of the international financial market.
my country adheres to the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, and the national economy continues to recover steadily. Fundamental factors will continue to serve as a solid foundation for the basic balance of international payments and the overall stability of the foreign exchange market.