After a decline for two straight quarters, China's urban residents are again feeling the inclination to save money, according to the latest survey by the central bank.

 

The quarterly survey released on Wednesday by the People's Bank of China shows that 36.8 percent of the 20,000 Chinese polled would like to save more, given current price and interest rate levels. The figure is up 2.2 percentage points on the previous quarter.

 

The index had dropped 3.8 percentage points from the first three months to 34.6 percent in the second quarter.

 

The rebound has revealed the "high impact" of the August 19 interest rate hikes, noted the bank.

 

Citing the survey conducted in 50 cities, it said that 68.2 percent of respondents had bank deposits during the third quarter, up 1.7 percentage points from the previous quarter and 1.1 percentage points on the same period of last year.

 

Those who chose to invest in stocks dropped 2.9 percentage points from the second quarter's record high to 12.9 percent.

 

The bank said that interest rate adjustments had also affected urban residents' housing plans. Those who said they were ready to buy houses in the next three months fell to a record low of 17.5 percent.

 

Geographically, the decline was more marked in eastern China than in the central area. In western China, the ratio actually went up a little.

 

The central bank said that such phenomena revealed the disparity among different regions in terms of sensitivity to central government policies.

 

The survey highlighted the fact that the briskest demand for housing is in Beijing where 10.4 percent of respondents are saving for home decoration, up 0.7 percentage points on the previous quarter.

 

A minority of 37.6 percent maintained that current deposit interest rates were "suitable", up 1.6 percentage points from the second quarter. But the majority, 61.6 percent, said that the current deposit interest rates were "too low".

 

The survey also shows that Chinese urban residents are optimistic about their third quarter income. The confidence index for future income hit 23.1 percent, its highest level since the fourth quarter of 1999.

 

However, there is a certain amount of pessimism among low-income families who anticipate price hikes.

 

The survey said that 61.9 percent of the polled agreed that current prices were "too high". The price anticipation index for the third quarter rose to 40.6 percent, close to the record high of 43.5 percent for the fourth quarter of 2003, and up 9.5 percentage points on the second quarter.

 

(Xinhua News Agency September 14, 2006)