日元未降反升 未理睬官方努力

The yen touched new highs yesterday, defying Tokyo’s effort to weaken the Japanese currency in the latest sign policymakers in leading economies are running out of tools to kick-start growth and battle the threat of deflation.

日元匯率昨日升至新高，未理睬東京方面削弱本幣匯率的努力，這一最新跡象表明，領先經濟體的政策制定者差不多用盡了啓動增長和抗擊通縮威脅的工具。

Japanese officials issued warnings about “one-sided” moves, a signal of possible intervention that would usually put traders on high alert. Instead, the yen soared to its highest levels since the bank of Japan fired its second stimulus bazooka in October 2014.

日本官員對“單向”變動發出警告，表明日本政府可能採取通常會讓交易員高度警惕的干預。日元匯率反而飆升至自日本央行(Bank of Japan) 2014年10月發射第二支刺激火箭筒以來的最高水平。

The yen’s momentum comes despite the Herculean efforts by central banks to spur growth in Asia and Europe. Like the BoJ, the European Central Bank has intervened in capital markets at unprecedented levels to little effect on the EU’s common currency or inflation.

日元上漲之際，各國央行正做出巨大努力提振亞洲和歐洲的經濟增長。與日本央行一樣，歐洲央行(ECB)近期以空前火力干預資本市場，但對單一貨幣或通脹幾乎毫無影響。

Their task is being made harder by US Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, who has signalled a slower pace of interest-rate increases, weakening the dollar. Minutes from the Fed’s March meeting showed many policymakers see “appreciable” risks to the US economy from global turmoil, underscoring the likelihood of a glacial pace of rate rises.

美聯儲(Fed)主席珍妮特•耶倫(Janet Yellen)令其他央行的任務變得更爲艱難，她已暗示將放慢加息速度，這削弱了美元匯率。美聯儲3月利率會議的會議紀要顯示，多名政策制定者認爲全球動盪令美國經濟面臨“可觀”風險，這突顯出美國加息速度可能緩慢。

Aggressive monetary policies in general, and negative interest rates in particular, have long been seen as a means to depreciate currencies and raise inflation by increasing the cost of imports. Lower borrowing costs and cheaper currencies are central banks’ primary tools in sparking domestic demand.

長期以來，激進的貨幣政策（特別是負利率）被視爲一種壓低匯率、並通過增加進口成本來推高通脹的手段。降低借款成本和壓低匯率是央行刺激內需的主要工具。

But despite the aggressive BoJ and ECB moves, global inflation remains lacklustre, with Japan and the eurozone more exposed to the risk of deflation than other advanced economies.

儘管日本央行和歐洲央行採取了激進舉措，但全球通脹仍顯乏力，日本和歐元區面臨的通縮風險超過其他發達經濟體。

Mario Draghi, the ECB chief, exceeded expectations in unleashing another round of monetary stimulus last month.

歐洲央行行長馬里奧•德拉吉(Mario Draghi)上月推出另一輪貨幣刺激計劃，超出預期。

But even the combination of