As pandemic policies are relaxed, countless industries awaken from a three-year hibernation, with physical stores regaining momentum and outdoor crowds flowing incessantly. Many believed that our country's economy could make a strong comeback to its peak, hoping that their wallets could also catch up with the economic boom and start to swell.
However, reality has dealt a heavy blow to such fantasies. What we see might just be an illusion created by data. The central bank has indeed been printing money, but to everyone's surprise, their wallets remain unchanged.
Where has all the money gone?
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The central bank has released the latest financial data for February, showing that the current money supply is 275.5 trillion, a growth of up to 12.9% compared to the same period last year. This means that over the past 12 months, our country's money supply has increased by 31.5 trillion yuan.
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Friends familiar with finance might know that a large issuance of banknotes is not good news, as it can easily lead to inflation. Take the United States as an example, due to its long-term practice of printing large amounts of money, with the printing presses running day and night, the country is now mired in high inflation, setting a new high in 40 years.
But strangely, our country has not experienced inflation. The average annual growth of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) last year was 2%, and the cumulative year-on-year growth for January and February this year is only 1.8%.
Not only has inflation not occurred, but many people even feel that the money in their hands is decreasing.Everyone originally thought that printing money would bring us economic revenue, but in fact, the opposite is true; our country's economic development is still struggling to climb the wave.
In just one year, an additional 31.5 trillion in currency was issued, yet it neither caused inflation nor increased our wallets, and its impact on economic growth seems to be minimal.
No wonder some netizens say that this is truly an economic miracle, and they are puzzled about where the money has gone.
However, many people believe that our currency has clearly devalued.
The United States, in its pursuit of self-interest, employs any means necessary. Many countries have been forcibly dragged into the quagmire by the U.S., not only slowing down their economic development but also leaving numerous nations heavily in debt.
Moreover, after falling into a severe inflation crisis, the U.S. is now looking for scapegoats to shift its inflation.
Surprisingly, the countries that have followed the U.S. into inflation now include developed economies such as Japan and Europe.
In China, although the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is not high, some prices have noticeably increased.
Over the past few years, as ordinary citizens, what we can personally experience is the skyrocketing prices in our daily lives. In just a few years, everything we buy has become more expensive.On the other hand, due to the continuous interest rate hikes by the US dollar, it has led to the continuous appreciation of the US dollar, which in turn has caused the depreciation of the Chinese yuan. At the beginning of last year, the exchange rate of the yuan to the US dollar was around 6.3, but this year it is around 6.9.
In other words, the yuan has also depreciated against the US dollar.
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The newly issued money has all disappeared, and to make matters worse, the money in hand is depreciating. So what should we do?
In fact, there is no need for everyone to be too nervous, as this is just a process that is required.
After all, the country does not directly print money with a printing press and distribute it to everyone, but rather guides it into the real economy, which then slowly becomes everyone's income, thus taking a certain amount of time.
Most of the additional 31 trillion yuan in currency has been used for investment purposes. The country is trying to stimulate the economy through investment in infrastructure, and then stimulate consumption, thereby revitalizing the domestic economy.
In addition, some funds have been allocated to the real estate industry, providing appropriate financing to real estate companies, and guiding the public to purchase properties reasonably by reducing loan interest rates.
These will eventually lead to the flow of funds into various industries and then into the hands of every working person.
From the recent two months of new deposits, we have also observed that some of the money has already reached people's hands.In February, the deposits of the general public increased by 790 billion yuan. Although the amount added is far less than that of January, household deposits are still significantly on the rise.
As long as the newly issued currency enters the economic circulation, sooner or later, each and every one of us will benefit.