China Halts Bank Cash Transfers

The People’s Bank of China , the central bank, has just ordered commercial banks to halt cash transfers.

This notice, for instance, appears on the online portal for Citigroup's C -2.74% Citibank unit for its China customers:

" The specific reason given—“system maintenance” at the central bank—is preposterous. It is not credible that during the highest usage period in the year—the weeklong Lunar New Year holiday beginning January 31—the central bank would schedule an upgrade and shut down cash transfers "

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonchang/2014/01/26/china-halts-bank-cash-transfers-2/

About as likely an excuse as the unspecified "error" leading to most UK benefits being delayed until after X-mass. http://news.sky.com/story/1186935/christmas-benefit-payments-thousands-miss-out

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand

Confucius say...no money, no honey.

What does this mean ?

maybe they (China) are preparing to buy ALL 18 million tons of rice from Thailands rice hills.. and need the change..

In my Forbes piece yesterday, “China Halts Bank Cash Transfers,” I stated this: “The People’s Bank of China , the central bank, has just ordered commercial banks to halt cash transfers.”

In fact it did not.

What happened? I had looked at the PBOC’s holiday maintenance suspension in light of an interest rate spike days before, evident government concern over a then-impending default of a particular wealth management product, and a bump up in deposit rates and assumed that the central bank was doing what it is almost certainly did in June of last year. I jumped to a conclusion.

I was wrong.

Follow me on Twitter @GordonGChang

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonchang/2014/01/27/chinas-central-bank-and-holiday-cash-transfers/