London University Professor: RMB appreciation has limited effect on promoting domestic consumption

August 19 News, the World Economics Congress held in Shanghai. Orazio Attanasio, a former chairman of the annual Conference of the European Economic Society and Professor of Economics at University College London, said that Chinese residents are gradually adjusting their savings and consumption allocations as China's economy grows, but that the appreciation of the renminbi has limited impact on domestic consumption,　　and the establishment of a perfect social security system is a more effective way. At present, China presents the phenomenon of "high saving rate and high economic growth". Attanasio said that the international academic community has a lot of explanations, but did not really reveal the reason, to really understand this phenomenon, we need to analyze the consumption data of different types of families in China.　　However, he thinks it is a gradual process for Chinese residents to adjust their savings and consumption allocations as China's economy develops.　　Asked about currency appreciation, raising wages and perfecting the social security system which would promote consumer spending more effectively, Attanasio to Sina Finance said, generally speaking, the fastest effect of currency appreciation is most obvious, but he does not think it is effective for China. "Although I did not conduct data research, I envisage that Chinese imports are not a high proportion of domestic consumption, so the effect of a higher exchange rate will be very limited," he said.　　"Attanasio said. And he thinks that raising wages does not necessarily change the habit of a country's residents to save too much. "If you're uncertain about the future, you're not going to spend 20% of your salary this year, and you may be saving up to 15% of it," he said.　　Attanasio finally pointed out that a sound social security system will give people a sense of security in the future, thus reducing the proportion of savings in household assets, and more active consumption will be a more effective way to promote domestic consumption of Chinese residents. Orazio Attanasio is a professor of economics at University College London, who served as president of the 2003 European Economic Association annual Conference. His current main research area is household consumption savings behavior and micro-credit, and has published numerous influential papers in the world's leading economic journals. (Jessie is from Shanghai)