淺論希臘經濟危機始末

How did Greece get to this point?
希臘如何落到今天的地步？

Greece became the epicenter of Europe’s debt crisis after Wall Street imploded in 2008. With global financial markets still reeling, Greece announced in October 2009 that it had been understating its deficit figures for years, raising alarms about the soundness of Greek finances.
2008年，美國華爾街爆發了金融危機。希臘成為歐洲債務危機的重災區。隨著全球金融市場舉步維艱，希臘在2009年10月宣布，在過去數年里，它的赤字都被有意低報。這敲響了希臘金融問題的警鐘。

Suddenly, Greece was shut out from borrowing in the financial markets. By the spring of 2010, it was veering toward bankruptcy, which threatened to set off a new financial crisis.
突然之間，金融市場停止向希臘提供借貸。到2010年春季，希臘開始走向破產，這預示了新的金融危機的爆發。

To avert calamity, the so-called troika —the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission —issued the first of two international bailouts for Greece, which would eventually total more than 240 billion euros, or about $264 billion at today’s exchange rates.
為了避免這一災難，所謂的三駕馬車（國際貨幣基金組織、歐洲央行和歐盟委員會）向希臘提供了兩項國際援助中的第一筆，根據今天的匯率，這筆援助最終達到2400億歐元或2640億美元。

The bailouts came with conditions. Lenders imposed harsh austerity terms, requiring deep budget cuts and steep tax increases. They also required Greece to overhaul its economy by streamlining the government, ending tax evasion and making Greece an easier place to do business.
這些援助是有條件的。貸方強加給希臘一些財政緊縮條款，要求它大幅削減預算和增加稅收，此外還要求希臘通過精簡政府機構、終止偷稅漏稅、改善商業環境來徹底改革其經濟。

If Greece has received billions in bailouts, why is there still a crisis?
既然希臘收到了數以億計的援助，為什么還會發生危機？

The money was supposed to buy Greece time to stabilize its finances and quell market fears that the euro union itself could break up. While it has helped, Greece’s economic problems haven’t gone away. The economy has shrunk by a quarter in five years, and unemployment is above 25 percent.
這筆錢是用來為希臘換取穩定財政的時間，以及壓制市場對歐盟分裂的恐慌。雖然達到了這些目的，但希臘的經濟問題并未得到解決。希臘經濟在5年里縮水1/4，失業率超過25%。

The bailout money mainly goes toward paying off Greece’s international loans, rather than making its way into the economy. And the government still has a staggering debt load that it cannot begin to pay down unless a recovery takes hold.
援款主要用于償還希臘的國際債務，而不是用于發展經濟。除非經濟復蘇，否則希臘政府仍有數額驚人的負債無法償還。

Many economists, and many Greeks, blame the austerity measures for much of the country’s continuing problems. The leftist Syriza party rode to power this year promising to renegotiate the bailout; Mr. Tsipras said that austerity had created a “humanitarian crisis” in Greece.
許多經濟學家和希臘民眾譴責經濟緊縮政策是該國經濟問題持續的主要原因。今年上臺的左翼激進聯盟黨承諾將就援助重新進行談判。齊普拉斯表示，經濟緊縮在希臘造成了“人道主義危機”。

But the country’s exasperated creditors, especially Germany, blame Athens for failing to conduct the economic overhauls required under its bailout agreement. They don’t want to change the rules for Greece.
但是被激怒的債權方，尤其是德國，批評希臘政府沒能執行援助協議中規定的經濟重組。他們不會為希臘改變規則。

As the debate rages, the only thing everyone agrees on is that Greece is yet again running out of money —and fast.
爭論日趨激烈的同時，只有一件事是每個人都贊同的：希臘很快就將再次耗盡現金。

（來源：滬江英語，編輯 Helen）