For the past month or more, overnight interest rates in Hong Kong have been stuck just above zero per cent. Since everyone got used to ultra-low interest rates during the last couple of decades, it may not be immediately obvious how bizarre, unexpected and potentially alarming that situation is — or how it illustrates everything from the dwindling appetite of Asian investors for US assets, to a modest revival of Hong Kong’s capital markets, to surprising limits on the risk-taking capacity of banks and hedge funds.
過(guò)去一個(gè)多月來(lái)，香港隔夜利率一直維持在略高于零的水平。由于近幾十年來(lái)所有人都習(xí)慣了超低利率，人們也許不會(huì)立刻意識(shí)到這種情況是多么奇怪，多么出人意料，并且潛在地令人擔(dān)憂——他們也不會(huì)馬上反應(yīng)過(guò)來(lái)，這種情況說(shuō)明亞洲投資者對(duì)美國(guó)資產(chǎn)興趣下降，香港資本市場(chǎng)有所復(fù)蘇，而銀行和對(duì)沖基金的風(fēng)險(xiǎn)承受能力有限得令人吃驚。