Greece to Present 'Alarming' Economic Data

 Greece says its recession is deepening and will present "alarming" information about the state of the country's economy this week to international auditors¹ in a new effort to ease the terms of the government's latest bailout.

Government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou described the economic data as "astounding²" in a television interview Tuesday, but gave no details. He said the information "shows beyond any doubt" that the austerity measures demanded by Greece's creditors³ are hurting the country's economy rather than helping⁴ it.

Deputy Finance Minister Christos Staikouras said the Greek economy, in its fifth year of a recession, would contract 6.7 percent this year compared to a previous forecast of 4.5 percent. At last count, in March, more than one of every five Greek workers was unemployed⁵.

Debt inspectors⁶ from the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary⁷ Fund are set later this week to take a new look at the precarious⁸ state of the government's finances.

Also Tuesday, officials in Cyprus said they have started talks with the European Union, the European Central bank and the International Monetary Fund to estimate the size of an international loan needed to shore up Cyprus's banks. The island nation's economy and its banks have suffered from exposure to Greek debt.

Cyprus is the fifth euro zone country to seek financial aid from the common currency union, after Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the 17-member group, at more than 24 percent.

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Tuesday that the country's debt burden has become "crushing." He told French National Assembly that the state pays more than $60 billion a year to its creditors.

German Chancellor⁹ Angela Merkel discussed the region's debt crisis with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in Rome Tuesday. Germany is Europe's strongest economy and carries most of the loan burden.

International auditors are in Athens to check on the limited progress the government has made in imposing¹⁰ spending cuts it agreed to earlier this year when it secured a new $168-billion bailout. It was the country's second rescue package in two years.

But even before the auditors take a look at the government's financial ledgers¹¹, political leaders in Greece's new coalition¹² government are calling for at least a two-year extension to the 2014 mandate¹³ for the government to produce a budget surplus. But one European Central Bank official on Monday said Greece should not waste time seeking to ease the terms of the bailout and instead should push to carry out the austerity spending plan calling for pension and wage cuts and elimination¹⁴ of thousands of government jobs.

On Tuesday, a European Commission official, Horst Reichenbach, said Greece needs to start paying back the more than $7 billion it owes to suppliers, such as pharmaceutical¹⁵ and construction companies, to pump more money into the country's beleaguered¹⁶ economy.

"It would be very difficult to really improve the situation of the Greek economy, even with these reforms, if the very difficult situation of access to finance is not tackled," he said. "And here, the first step is to pay the arrears¹⁷ which have accumulated and obviously also the [valued-added tax] contributions, which, in particular for the export industry, are accumulating and raising difficulties."

1 auditors   

n.审计员，稽核员( auditor的名词复数 )；（大学课程的）旁听生

参考例句：

• The company has been in litigation with its previous auditors for a full year. 那家公司与前任审计员已打了整整一年的官司。
• a meeting to discuss the annual accounts and the auditors' report thereon 讨论年度报表及其审计报告的会议

2 astounding   

adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)

参考例句：

• There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。
• The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊，所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

6 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

8 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

9 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

10 imposing   

adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的

参考例句：

• The fortress is an imposing building.这座城堡是一座宏伟的建筑。
• He has lost his imposing appearance.他已失去堂堂仪表。

11 ledgers   

n.分类账( ledger的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The ledgers and account books had all been destroyed. 分类账本和账簿都被销毁了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ledgers had all been destroyed. 账簿都被销毁了。 来自辞典例句

12 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

13 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

14 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

15 pharmaceutical   

adj.药学的，药物的；药用的，药剂师的

参考例句：

• She has donated money to establish a pharmaceutical laboratory.她捐款成立了一个药剂实验室。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

16 beleaguered   

adj.受到围困[围攻]的；包围的v.围攻( beleaguer的过去式和过去分词)；困扰；骚扰

参考例句：

• The beleaguered party leader was forced to resign. 那位饱受指责的政党领导人被迫辞职。
• We are beleaguered by problems. 我们被许多困难所困扰。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 arrears   

n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作

参考例句：

• The payments on that car loan are in arrears by three months.购车贷款的偿付被拖欠了三个月。
• They are urgent for payment of arrears of wages.他们催讨拖欠的工钱。