High-level divisions over the handling of the eurozone crisis burst into the open yesterday when Germany’s finance minister rebuked the head of the International Monetary Fund for warning European leaders to ease their demands for ever-tighter austerity in troubled peripheral economies.
围绕欧元区危机应对战略的高层分歧昨日公开化。国际货币基金组织(IMF)总裁克里斯蒂娜•拉加德(Christine Lagarde)告诫欧洲国家领导人称,应放松对身处困境的外围经济体持续加大紧缩力度的要求,此言引发了德国财长沃尔夫冈•朔伊布勒(Wolfgang Schäuble)的指责。
Wolfgang Schäuble said that Christine Lagarde had appeared to contradict the IMF’s own stance in advocating an easing of austerity, noting that the fund had “time and again” warned that high debt levels threatened economic growth.
朔伊布勒表示,拉加德倡导放松紧缩,似乎违背了IMF自身的立场。他指出,IMF曾“一次又一次地”警告称,债务高企威胁经济增长。
“When there is a certain medium-term goal, it doesn’t build confidence when one starts by going in a different direction,” Mr Schäuble said. “When you want to climb a big mountain and you start climbing down the mountain, then the mountain will get even higher.”
“当中期目标已经确定的时候,有人却开始朝另一个方向走,此举无助于增强人们的信心。”朔伊布勒表示,“当你想爬一座大山的时候,你却开始朝山下走,那你离山顶岂不是越来越远。”
He was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers in Tokyo just after Ms Lagarde, the IMF managing director, backed a study finding that Brussels and the IMF had underestimated the impact of austerity measures on growth during the eurozone crisis.
朔伊布勒是在东京举行的财长及央行行长会议间隙发表这番言论的。此前不久,IMF总裁拉加德对一项研究结果表示了支持。该研究结果称,布鲁塞尔方面和IMF低估了欧元区危机期间紧缩措施对经济增长的影响。
Ms Lagarde said eurozone countries should not stick blindly to tough deficit targets if growth weakens more than expected. They should allow “automatic stabilisers” – higher welfare spending and lower tax revenues – to kick in if the economy deteriorated.
拉加德表示,假如增长放缓超过预期,欧元区国家就不应盲目坚持苛刻的赤字目标。她表示,如果经济状况恶化,欧元区国家应允许“自动稳定机制”(加大福利支出和削减税收)启动。
The IMF’s warnings against an over-reliance on austerity came as Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, held out the prospect of government action to stimulate domestic demand. She was determined to revive Germany’s flagging growth, not least because of the country’s role “to do something for the stimulation of the economy in Europe”.
IMF警告人们不要过度依赖紧缩之际,德国总理安格拉•默克尔(Angela Merkel)提出德国政府可能采取行动刺激内需。默克尔决心重振德国乏力的经济增长,尤其是因为德国的角色要求该国“做点什么来刺激欧洲经济”。
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