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The debt-ridden Spanish government and the country's troubled economy are the newest face of the European debt crisis.
Stock markets across Asia, Europe and the United States plunged1 on Monday on fears that Madrid will need an international bailout after the country's borrowing costs soared above the level at which Greece, Ireland and Portugal all were forced to secure rescue packages.
Economy minister Luis de Guindos denied that Spain would need help beyond the $122 billion package Europe has already sanctioned for the ailing2 Spanish banking3 system.
But as Spain's autonomous4 regions sought new assistance from the central government for their own debt woes5, interest rates on Spanish debt jumped to more than 7.5 percent, the country's highest level in the 13-year history of the euro currency union. The interest rate is well above the seven percent level that pushed the Greek, Irish and Portuguese6 governments into bailouts.
Spain's stock market fell sharply Monday for the second straight day of trading. Officials attempted to curb7 the freefall, banning the practice of short-selling of financial stocks for three months, on the theory that it contributes to a declining market. In short-selling, investors8 bet that the price of stocks will fall, borrowing stock from a broker9, selling it, and then attempting to buy it back at a cheaper price, to pocket the difference.
Spain has imposed sharp austerity measures, cutting government spending and increasing taxes. Thousands of workers have taken to the streets in recent days in protest, but the government says the changes are necessary to rein10 in the government's deficit11.
The underlying12 problem for Spain is its weak economy. Spain has the fourth largest economy in the 17-nation eurozone, but about a fourth of its workers are unemployed13.
Its economy also is contracting, not growing. In a new report, the central bank said the country's economy shrunk four-tenths of a percent in the April-to-June period, with the government predicting that the decline will continue into next year.
Additionally, there is renewed eurozone attention on Greece and Italy.
Auditors14 from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary15 Fund are gathering16 in Athens to take a new look at the government's efforts to impose budget cuts so it can receive more money from the country's second bailout in two years.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras on Sunday compared the financial woes of his country to that of the United States during its Great Depression in the 1930s.
Italy, another country with burgeoning17 debt, also is facing an increase in its borrowing costs.
Economics professor Nicola Borri said the Spanish economic upheaval18 has directly affected19 the interest rate Rome is paying on its debt.
"So it is not clear right now, if the 100 billion euros that Europe has pledged to save Spanish banks will be able to stop the banking crisis that is right now happening in Spain, and it is not clear yet which is the real trouble in the Spanish provinces. So I think that this uncertainty20 at the Spanish level is definitely affecting our market as well," said Borri.
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1 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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2 ailing | |
v.生病 | |
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3 banking | |
n.银行业,银行学,金融业 | |
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4 autonomous | |
adj.自治的;独立的 | |
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5 woes | |
困境( woe的名词复数 ); 悲伤; 我好苦哇; 某人就要倒霉 | |
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6 Portuguese | |
n.葡萄牙人;葡萄牙语 | |
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7 curb | |
n.场外证券市场,场外交易;vt.制止,抑制 | |
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8 investors | |
n.投资者,出资者( investor的名词复数 ) | |
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9 broker | |
n.中间人,经纪人;v.作为中间人来安排 | |
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10 rein | |
n.疆绳,统治,支配;vt.以僵绳控制,统治 | |
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11 deficit | |
n.亏空,亏损;赤字,逆差 | |
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12 underlying | |
adj.在下面的,含蓄的,潜在的 | |
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13 unemployed | |
adj.失业的,没有工作的;未动用的,闲置的 | |
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14 auditors | |
n.审计员,稽核员( auditor的名词复数 );(大学课程的)旁听生 | |
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15 monetary | |
adj.货币的,钱的;通货的;金融的;财政的 | |
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16 gathering | |
n.集会,聚会,聚集 | |
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17 burgeoning | |
adj.迅速成长的,迅速发展的v.发芽,抽枝( burgeon的现在分词 );迅速发展;发(芽),抽(枝) | |
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18 upheaval | |
n.胀起,(地壳)的隆起;剧变,动乱 | |
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19 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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20 uncertainty | |
n.易变,靠不住,不确知,不确定的事物 | |
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