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迷你倉 　　Subscriptions for the latest 3 billion yuan retail sovereign bonds started on Friday. As there are hopes for the Renminbi to continue rising and limited choices in its investment tools for retail investors, many people consider the sovereign bonds a relatively low risk hedge against inflation.　　In recent months, many local banks have raised interest rates for Renminbi fixed deposits, with some banks even once offering an interest rate as high as three percent for clients opting a one-year fixed deposit. The current annual interest on a two-year retail sovereign bond is 2.8 percent. The rate is lower though the period is longer. But high interest Renminbi fixed deposits at banks often require customers to use new funds and in units of a hundred thousand yuan. But sovereign bonds require only a minimum of 10,000 yuan, benefiting retail investors more easily.　　This time the Ministry of Finance issues 10 billion yuan worth of Renminbi sovereign bonds in Hong Kong, with the three-year and five-year bonds for institutional investors all oversubscribed. The coupon rate for five-year bonds is 3.09 percent while that of the three-year bonds is 2.48 percent. Now the coupon rate of the two-year bonds is higher than that of the three-year bonds, which is the same as previous arrangements, and to "obviously benefit" retail investors.An alternative anti-inflation bond　　One of the new initiatives in the sovereign bond sale this time is that the offer is available only to investors who are Hong Kong residents, with company buyers kept out, exhibiting a stronger sense of "benefiting the locals". Just like the SAR government's anti-inflation bond issuance, the offer is not totally due to the government's funding needs but rather to benefit the people. The government predicts the basic inflation rate this year to be four percent. The retail sovereign bond offered comes with a 2.8 percent annual interest rate. If Renminbi appreciates by two percent each year, the "interest and appreciation" is enough to offset inflation.　　Originally, the mainland bond market has been falling continuously in recent days. The latest offer of 10-year sovereign bonds hit a nine-year new high coupon rate. The Hong Kong market thus estimated the rate to be higher this time. The result was slightly lower than market expectation, reflecting the demand of yuan sovereign bonds in Hong Kong as the largest offshore Renminbi business centre is still very strong, especially the three-year bonds were oversubscribed by over three times, with some institutions even willing to subscribe at a coupon rate as low as two percent.　　Offshore Renminbi sovereign bonds are more popular than within the mainland partly because the amount issued cannot meet the demands and there is not enough diversity in Renminbi investment tools. Both institutional and retail investors are having the same problem. To the retail investor, investing in Renminbi involves only bank deposits if not fund or insurance purchase. As for stocks, there has only been one real estate trust fund in so many years with not much choice.Breaking out of the Renminbi bottleneck　　The sovereign bond offer this time has for the first time adopted a new sale format somewhat similar to an IPO, with retail investors being able to subscribe through security brokerage firms which provide various concessions to attract customers. But with Renminbi deposited in brokerage firms, investment choices are limited other than the current sovereign bond offer.　　The Financial Services Development Council has recently described Hong Kong's Renminbi business as having entered a bottleneck. From 2009 to 2011, Hong Kong's Renminbi deposits soared by 10 folds, but from December last year to this September, the growth was only 24 percent, one of the reasons being that the base at the beginning was too low. A more important reason is the daily exchange limit for each person of only 20,000 yuan. There is also a lack of investment tools in the market, while they both have been the mutual cause and effect.　　When SAR officials visited China earlier, the central government agreed to relax the ceiling, which will greatly reduce the inconvenience in the citizens' buying Renminbi investment tools. With varied Renminbi investment tools, more funds will be attracted, further expanding the pool, which will result in beneficial interaction and raise the "survival" ability of the offshore Renminbi market. This will be a much better gift than the offer of sovereign bonds.Published in the Sing Tao Dailyon November 22Vocabularysubscription (n) —— 認購hedge (n) —— 對沖inflation (n) —— 通脹initiative (n) —— 措施exhibit (v) —— 展示出appreciate (v) —— 升值offset (v) —— 抵銷diversity (n) —— 多元化format (n) —— 形式ceiling (n) —— 上限Useful Termssovereign bond —— 國債fixed deposit —— 定期存款institutional investor —— 機構投資者coupon rate —— 票面利率security brokerage firm —— 證券行Did you know?　　China's 3 billion yuan (HK$3.8 billion) sovereign bond issue solely for Hong Kong retail investors will last until December 5 at local banks and brokerages. Last year, 5.5 billion yuan worth of retail sovereign bonds were oversubscribed 2.17 times. In a bid to lure customers, Bank of East Asia (BEA) and Wing Lung Bank have exempted subscription, trustee and transaction fees. BEA and Bank of China （Hong Kong） are even extending their service hours. "The sovereign bond will be well-received due to the outlook for a continuous appreciation of the yuan," said Matthew Kwok Ka-yiu, chief strategist at China Yinsheng Capital Group. But Christfund Securities research director Simon Lam Ka-hang is not bullish on the issue, citing a low coupon rate. The offer is part of a 10 billion yuan sovereign bond issue and the remaining 7 billion yuan for institutional investors 2.7 times is oversubscribed.1. The word _____ in the first paragraph is the opposite of "absolutely".2. In recent months, many local banks have raised interest rates for Renminbi _____ deposits.3. In the passage, the word _____ means "a little bit".4. The central government's relaxing the ceiling on Renminbi exchange will greatly reduce _____________________________________________.5. According to the last paragraph, relaxing the Renminbi exchange limit will be a much better gift to Hong Kong than the offer of _____ bonds.Answers1. relatively2. fixed3. somewhat4. the inconvenience in the citizens' buying Renminbi investment tools5. sovereign翻譯︰George零售國債甜頭不及放寬兌換　　最新一批三十億元人民幣零售國債，今天開始接受認購。由於大家憧憬人民幣繼續升值，散戶人民幣投資工具選擇有限，不少人視國債為風險較低的抗通脹工具。　　這幾個月不少本地銀行提升人民幣定期存款息率，個別銀行曾向新做一年定期人民幣存款的客戶，提供高達三厘的息率。現在兩年期零售國債年息二點八厘，年期長反而息率略低。不過，銀行的人民幣高息定存，往往需要客戶用新資金，款額又以十萬元計，零售國債入場費則只需一萬元，小額散戶較容易受惠。　　今次財政部在港發行一百億人民幣國債，供機構投資者認購的三年期和五年期國債都獲得超額認購，五年期中標息率三點零九厘，三年期二點四八厘，現在兩年期零售息率比三年期國債為高，是一如以往的安排，「明益」散戶。另類抗通脹債券　　今次零售國債其中一項新猷，是只供持有香港身分證的個人投資者認購，謝絕公司客戶，「益街坊」的色彩更為明顯。一如港府發行抗通脹債券，今次零售國債並非純粹基於政府融資需求，而是讓百姓受惠。港府估計今年基本通脹率四厘，今次零售國債年息兩厘八，如果人民幣每年升值百分之二，在「有升有息」的情況下，已經足以抵銷通脹。　　本來，內地債市近日連番下挫，內地最新一期招標的十年期國債，中標息率創下九年新高，本港市場因而估計，今次國債中標息率會高一點，開標結果略遜於市場預期，反映本港這個最大的離岸人民幣業務中心，對人民幣國債的需求仍然相當旺盛，尤其是三年期國債認購超額達三倍，有機構甚至願意以低至兩厘的息口認購。　　離岸人民幣國債比境內受歡迎，部分原因是發行量遠不敷需求，而且人民幣投資工具未夠多元化，無論機構投資者和散戶都面對這樣的問題。以散戶來說，投資人民幣，除了銀行存款，就是買基金、買保險，至於買股票則多年來只有一隻房地產信託基金，無甚選擇。突破人民幣瓶頸　　今次零售國債，首次引進類似新股公開發售形式，散戶可以透過證券行認購，證券行紛紛提供優惠吸客，但是人民幣放在證券行，除了今次買國債，其他投資產品有限。　　金融發展局日前形容本港人民幣業務進入瓶頸，由二○○九年至一一年，本港人民幣存款暴增十倍，但是由去年十二月到今年九月，則只增長兩成四，原因之一是初時基數低，更重要的原因是個人每天只限兌換二萬元，市場上又缺乏投資工具，而這兩者又互為因果。　　早前港府官員北訪，獲得中央同意放寬人民幣兌換上限，這將大減市民購入人民幣投資產品的不便。人民幣投資產品多元化，又可以吸引更多資金投入，進一步擴大人民幣資金池，形成良性互動，提高離岸人民幣市場的「自生」能力，是比零售國債更好的禮物。 刊於十一月二十二日《星島日報》儲存倉