希臘將兌現反緊縮承諾 按期結束歐盟救援計劃

ATHENS — As pressure grows on Greece to reach a deal with its international creditors and avert fears that it will default on its huge debt, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said Sunday that his government would not seek an extension of a stringent bailout program and would carry out its campaign pledges to roll back austerity, but gradually.

雅典——希臘正面臨着更大的壓力來與國際債權人達成協議，減輕外界對其鉅額債務將出現違約的擔憂。在這樣的背景下，該國總理亞歷克西斯·齊普拉斯(Alexis Tsipras)週日表示，其政府不打算延長一份嚴苛的救援計劃的期限，並將兌現削弱財政緊縮措施的競選承諾，但這一過程將逐步進行。

In laying out his program in a speech to Parliament, Mr. Tsipras sought to satisfy coalition lawmakers and supporters that his government would honor the anti-austerity pledges that brought it to power last month while reassuring creditors that it is prepared to move toward a compromise that keeps the economy afloat without further burdening European taxpayers.

齊普拉斯在對議會發表演講時提出了自己的此番計劃。這是爲了讓組成聯合政府的黨派的議員及支持者相信，政府將兌現反緊縮的承諾——正是這些承諾讓齊普拉斯在上個月贏得了大選——同時向債權人保證，它已經準備好了達成一個折中方案，讓經濟維持下去，而不會進一步爲歐洲納稅人造成負擔。

Greece’s creditors — the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund — want the new government to seek an extension beyond Feb. 28 of the European portion of the country’s bailout of 240 billion euros, or $270 billion. The government, however, has said that despite dwindling cash reserves, it is not interested in the latest portion of the bailout, a loan of 7 billion, because of what it sees as onerous conditions. Instead, it has said it wants a program between now and the end of May to bridge the gap and permission to raise short-term funding by issuing treasury bills.

希臘的債權人——歐盟委員會(European Commission)、歐洲央行(European Central Bank)和國際貨幣基金組織（International Monetary Fund，簡稱IMF）——希望新政府將該國2400億歐元（約合1.7萬億元人民幣）的救援計劃中的歐洲部分在2月28日到期之後繼續延長。然而，希臘政府已經表示，儘管現金儲備不斷減少，但它對救援計劃的最新內容——也就是一筆70億歐元的貸款——沒有興趣，因爲它認爲貸款的條件十分苛刻。相反，希臘政府表示，它尋求達成一個從現在到5月底的項目來填補空當，並希望獲得許可得以通過發行國債進行短期融資。

Mr. Tsipras said extending the bailout would be tantamount to continuing the “mistakes and disaster” of the past, and he said his government needed “fiscal space” for discussion on restructuring of debt.

齊普拉斯稱，延長救援計劃的期限將相當於延續過去的“錯誤和災難”。他還說，政府需要討論債務重組的“財政空間”。

“We only have one commitment: to serve the interests of our people, the good of society,” he said, noting that it was an “irreversible decision” of his government to fulfill its promises “in their entirety.”

“我們只有一項使命：服務於我們民衆的利益，還有社會公益，”他說，並指出，“徹底地”兌現承諾，是他的政府做出的一個“不可逆轉的決定”。

Mr. Tsipras also pledged to replace a hated unified property tax, which combines several levies, with a new tax on large property and to increase the tax-free threshold on annual income to 12,000 from the current 5,000. Cracking down on tax evasion and corruption were also underlined as priorities.

此外，齊普拉斯保證要取消一個結合了多項稅費的引發嚴重不滿的統一房產稅，取而代之的是一項針對大型房產的新稅。他還承諾把所得稅的免稅門檻從目前的年收入5000歐元提高到1.2萬歐元。打擊逃稅和腐敗也被作爲首要任務加以強調。

Immediate action will be taken, he said, to restore collective wage bargaining, bringing unions back into negotiations on workers’ salaries and working conditions. He also pledged to gradually restore the minimum wage to 751 a month from 586.

他說，將立刻採取行動，恢復集體工資談判，讓工會回到關於員工薪酬和工作環境的談判當中。他同時許諾逐步將最低工資從每月586歐元恢復到751歐元。

As a jab at Germany, which has been leading the austerity drive in Europe, Mr. Tsipras said it was Greece’s historical duty to seek war reparations and the repayment of a loan it was forced to make to Germany in World War II.

齊普拉斯還把矛頭指向了一直在引領歐洲財政緊縮行動的德國。他說，尋求戰爭賠款，要求德國償還在第二次世界大戰中強迫希臘提供的貸款，是希臘的歷史性責任。

The Greek authorities have already met with resistance, even in France and Italy, whose governments have pushed back against austerity measures. A tour of European capitals last week by Mr. Tsipras and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis failed to win firm support for Greek ambitions to write down a 320 billion debt burden and to revoke some of the most severe cutbacks. And approval for issuing treasury bills must come from the European Central Bank, which has said it will no longer accept Greek bonds as collateral for liquidity, increasing the pressure on the country’s banks.

希臘政府已經遇到了抵制，甚至在法國和意大利也是如此，儘管這兩個國家的政府反對財政緊縮措施。上週，齊普拉斯和財政部長亞尼斯·瓦魯法基斯(Yanis Varoufakis)走訪了歐洲多國首府，但未能贏得對希臘雄心勃勃的幾項目標的堅定支持，包括減計3200億歐元的債務負擔，以及取消一些最嚴厲的減支計劃。發行短期國庫券必須獲得歐洲央行的批准，而後者已經表示，將不再接受將希臘債券作爲流動性的擔保——此舉增加了對希臘銀行的壓力。

This week promises to be even tougher for Mr. Tsipras. His radical leftist coalition, with 162 lawmakers in the 300-seat Parliament, is expected to secure a confidence vote on Tuesday. But his foreign audience will be harder to win over. A day before Mr. Tsipras faces his European Union peers at a summit meeting on Thursday, Mr. Varoufakis will meet eurozone counterparts in Brussels and is certain to be pressed to seek an extension to Greece’s bailout. The International Monetary Fund’s managing director, Christine Lagarde, and the European Central Bank’s president, Mario Draghi, will also attend, increasing the pressure.

本週對於齊普拉斯來說將更加難熬。他的激進左翼聯盟，在議會的300個席位中佔據了162席，預計週二將贏得一場信任表決。不過，更加難以說服的將是外國的聽衆。齊普拉斯計劃在週四的峯會上與歐盟國家的領導人會面，而此前一天，瓦魯法基斯將在布魯塞爾與歐元區國家領導人會面，毫無疑問會面臨延長希臘救援計劃期限的壓力。IMF的總裁克里斯蒂娜·拉加德(Christine Lagarde)和歐洲央行行長馬里奧·德拉吉(Mario Draghi)也將出席，進一步對希臘施壓。

The Greek debt issue is also expected to figure on the Group of 20 finance ministers agenda on Monday and Tuesday amid growing concern about the implications for the global economy.

越來越多的人擔心希臘債務問題會對全球經濟造成影響，在這一背景下，預計該議題還將出現在週一和週二的20國集團財長會議中。

“We don’t intend to threaten stability in Europe,” Mr. Tsipras told Parliament. “Greece remains a focus of international interest,” he said, but this time “as a protagonist, not as second fiddle.”

“我們不打算威脅歐洲的穩定，”齊普拉斯對議會表示。“希臘仍然是國際關注的焦點，”他說，但這一次是“作爲主角，而不是次要角色。”

“The problem is not just Greek. It never was,” he said. “The crisis is not just Greek; it is European.”

“問題不只是希臘的，從來不是，”他說。“危機不光是希臘的；而是整個歐洲的。”

After the speech, the opposition Party New Democracy expressed concern about whether the negotiations would be successful “after all that was heard today,” an apparent reference to the government’s insistence on revoking some austerity measures and not seeking a bailout extension.

在演講之後，反對黨新民主黨(New Democracy Party)表示，在“今天聽到了這些東西之後”，他們對談判是否能成功頗爲擔憂。這明顯指的是政府堅持取消一些緊縮措施，而且不打算延長救援計劃。

Already Athens is being squeezed. After last week’s decision by the European Central Bank on Greek bonds, Standard & Poor’s cut its credit rating on Greece further into junk status, to B-, and warned of a possible default or an exit from the eurozone in “the worst case scenario.” Moody’s followed suit, saying it was placing Greece “on review” for a downgrade.

雅典已然舉步維艱。歐洲央行上週對希臘債券做出決定之後，標準普爾(Standard & Poor)將已屬垃圾級的希臘信用評級進一步下調至B-，並警告，在“最糟糕的情景下”，希臘可能會違約或退出歐元區；穆迪(Moody’s)也採取了同樣的做法，宣佈將把希臘放入可能下調評級的負面“觀察”名單。

Greece is expected to return to growth this year after a six-year recession that has pushed unemployment above 25 percent and slashed household incomes by a third. Last week, however, the European Commission lowered its growth forecast for Greece to 2.5 percent, from an estimate of 2.9 percent in November.

預計希臘今年將恢復經濟增長。此前，連續六年的衰退已將該國失業率推高到25%以上，並導致家庭平均收入大幅減少了三分之一。然而上週，歐盟委員會把對希臘的經濟增長預期從11月份估計的2.9%下調到了2.5%。