出口下滑令英國經濟雪上加霜

Britain's exports fell sharply in the second quarter, highlighting the difficulty the UK economy faces as it tries to recover amid slowing global growth.

第二季度英國出口大幅下滑，突顯全球經濟增長放緩背景下英國經濟復甦所面臨的困境。

Goods exports fell 3.1 per cent in volume terms as the UK recorded its biggest trade deficit in at least 15 years. David Tinsley, economist at BNP Paribas, described the data as "spectacularly bad".

商品出口額大幅下降3.1%，英國出現至少15年來最大的貿易赤字。法國巴黎銀行(BNP Paribas)經濟學家戴維•廷斯利(David Tinsley)認爲英國出口數據"極其糟糕"。

The crisis in the eurozone, the destination of about 40 per cent of the UK's exports, has been compounded by slowing growth in the US and emerging markets such as China.

陷入危機的歐元區佔英國出口的40%，而美國以及中國等新興市場的增長放緩則讓形勢更加嚴峻。

Exports to all of the UK's 10 biggest export markets fell between the first and second quarters of the year, according to John Zhu, an economist at HSBC.

匯豐銀行(HSBC)經濟學家John Zhu指出，第一季度至第二季度，英國對其最大十個出口市場的出口均出現下降。

"The big picture is this is still very much a slog," said Darren Winder, an economist at Oriel Securities. "One of the government's objectives has long been to try to rebalance the economy [but] if you've got weak external demand conditions, which we have, then it becomes very difficult."

Oriel Securities經濟學家達倫•溫德爾(Darren Winder)說："整體形勢依然非常艱難。一直以來，政府的目標之一就是恢復經濟平衡，但如果外部需求疲軟，正如英國目前所面臨的，那麼就非常困難了。"

The trade data follow a gloomy assessment of the UK's prospects from the Bank of England, which has abandoned its long-held belief that the economy would spring back to normal growth rates within two years. The economy has not grown since mid-2010 and is now in a double-dip recession.

這些貿易數據發佈之前，英國央行(Bank of England)曾對英國經濟前景做出悲觀的預測，英國央行已經放棄長久以來的觀點，即英國經濟將在兩年之內恢復到正常增長率。2010年年中以來英國經濟一直沒有增長，目前正處於雙底衰退中。

Exports to countries outside Europe fell 8.6 per cent between May and June, exacerbated by lower car exports to China, which outstripped the 6 per cent fall in exports to Europe.

5月至6月，英國對歐洲以外國家的出口下降8.6%，更爲糟糕的是，對中國汽車出口下降幅度超過了對歐洲出口6%的降幅。

The Office for National Statistics warned that the monthly data, which are volatile and often revised, were probably affected by the extra bank holiday in June for the Queen's diamond jubilee.

英國國家統計局(Office for National Statistics)警示，月度數據浮動較大也經常修改，可能受到了6月份女王登基60週年慶典銀行額外假期的影響。

Jens Larsen, an economist at the Royal Bank of Canada, said there were some positive signals. "Imports have been pretty steady, perhaps suggesting that the domestic economy is not doing so badly. If imports were crashing too, I'd be worried."

加拿大皇家銀行(RBC)經濟學家延斯•拉森(Jens Larsen)認爲，也有一些積極的信號。"進口非常穩定，這或許證明國內經濟並不是很糟糕。如果進口也大幅下降，就非常值得擔憂了。"

Conflicting signals about the health of the domestic economy continue to puzzle economists. Employment is rising despite falling output and housing industry data on Wednesday showed home repossessions were falling slightly and mortgage arrears were stable.

有關國內經濟狀況的矛盾信號一直讓經濟學家摸不着頭腦。儘管產出降低，就業卻在增加。本週三的房地產數據則顯示，房屋收回率略有下降，抵押貸款欠款保持穩定。

Nonetheless, pressure is building on the coalition government to do more to stimulate growth. Chuka Umunna, shadow business secretary, called on the government to adopt wholesale "active industrial strategies".

然而，聯合政府面臨的壓力日益增大，要求其採取更多措施以刺激增長。"影子"商務大臣丘卡•烏穆納(Chuka Umunna)呼籲政府落實全面的"積極工業戰略"。

Labour strategists say the coalition is increasingly vulnerable to criticism of its economic policies. Senior Labour figures are working on plans for a "national investment bank" to deliver funds to small businesses and infrastructure in a move that will put pressure on the coalition to follow suit.

工黨策略師表示，聯合政府的經濟政策正在遭到越來越多的批評。工黨資深人士正在擬定"國家投資銀行"計劃，爲小企業和基礎設施建設提供資金，這將迫使聯合政府拿出類似的措施。