经济学人:爱尔兰赤字高居欧盟前列 政府6次收缩预算

 　　Europe Ireland’s budget

　　欧洲 爱尔兰的财政预算

　　Light at the end of the tunnel

　　一线希望

　　Ireland’s sixth austerity budget

　　爱尔兰的第六次收缩预算

　　Since mid-2008, successive governments have taken 25 billion euro ($33 billion) out of the Irish economy in tax rises and spending cuts, the equivalent of 16% of economic output in 2011. On December 5th Michael Noonan, the finance minister, removed another 3.5 billion euro when he presented the country’s sixth austerity budget.

　　从2008年中至今的历届政府已经通过增加税收和裁剪开支，将财政缩减了250亿欧元（330亿美元），这个数目相当于2011年经济总产出的16%。在12月5日，财政大臣迈克尔·诺南颁布该国的第六次收缩预算，进一步削减了35亿欧元。

　　This is the latest instalment of an austerity plan that the government hopes will achieve two goals. One is to enable Ireland next year to leave the 67.5 billion euro bail-out programme with the European Union, IMF and European Central Bank (ECB) agreed in 2010 and regain¹ access to market funding. The other is to reduce the budget deficit² to below 3% of GDP by 2015. At 8.2% Ireland’s budget deficit is still one of the highest in the EU.

　　凭借这最新一期的财政收缩计划，政府旨在达成两个目标。其一是使爱尔兰能在明年脱离欧盟，国际货币基金组织和欧洲央行在2010年达成的675亿欧元经济救助计划，并再次入市融资。其二便是在2015年前将预算赤字降低到国内生产总值的3%以下。目前，爱尔兰8.2%的赤字比率仍然高居欧盟前列。

　　In his budget measures, Mr Noonan broadened Ireland’s narrow revenue base. He focused on higher-income earners. Wealthier pensioners³ will feel the pain: the cap on tax relief for pension contributions will be lower and better-off pensioners (those over 70 with incomes over 60,000 euro) are hit by higher social charges. A modest residential-property tax has been introduced against the background of a collapse⁴ in house prices. Many new homeowners are in negative equity⁵, with a growing number in arrears⁶ on their mortgage payments.

　　在诺南的预算方案中，他扩大了爱尔兰狭窄的课税基础。他把矛头对向高收入者。领取高额养老金的人会遭遇沉重打击：对养老金的税收减免限额会更低，富裕的养老金领取者（年过70，收入超过60,000欧元）要承担更高的社会费用。为应对房价崩溃的大背景，一项适度的住宅物业税应运而生。许多新的房主都陷入了负资产的困境，拖欠抵押贷款的现象越来越频繁。

　　The government is relying on economic growth to meet its ambitious budget targets for 2013. It is forecasting 1.5% GDP growth for next year, which seems optimistic given Ireland’s dependence⁷ on an export-led recovery to achieve it. That may prove difficult with the euro zone in recession and a weakening British economy. Another concern is the sustainability of Ireland’s public debt, which is expected to hit 118% of GDP this year. Almost a third of it is accounted for by state support for distressed⁸ banks. Discussions with the ECB on restructuring the promissory notes that the government issued to cover 30 billion euro in losses, mostly at Anglo Irish Bank, have continued for more than a year without success. The government’s hopes that the new European Stability Mechanism⁹ could be used to take over state-owned Irish banks in a debt-equity swap¹⁰, have also been disappointed.

　　政府希望借助经济增长来实现它野心勃勃的2013年预算计划。据估计爱尔兰明年国内生产总值的增长达到1.5%，考虑到爱尔兰依靠出口导向型的经济复苏来实现这一目标，形势一片大好。但萧条的欧元区以及脆弱的英国经济还是会给这一目标带来困难。另一个隐忧是公共债务的持续性，该债务预计会在今年达到国内生产总值的118%。其中接近三分之一用于资助处境窘迫的银行。与欧洲央行关于重组本票事宜进行的商谈已经持续一年有余而无所进展，那些本票是政府为弥补主要由盎格鲁-爱尔兰银行所造成的300亿欧元损失而发行的。政府关于新的欧洲稳定机制通过债权转股权接管爱尔兰国有银行的希望也落空了。

　　The government’s major achievement in 2012 has been the sharp reduction in bond yields onIreland’s sovereign debt, which reflects its success in meeting all the targets set in the EU/IMF programme. In January Ireland takes over the six-monthly presidency¹¹ of the EU. Haggling¹² in Brusselsis likely to absorb much of the attention of Irish ministers, leaving less time for pressing national concerns—such as debt relief.

　　政府在2012年取得的主要成就就是大幅削减了爱尔兰主权债务的债券收益率，这也反映了它成功地达成了欧盟和国际货币基金组织所设立的目标。从一月开始，爱尔兰接任为期半年的欧盟轮值主席国。在布鲁塞尔的唇枪舌战可能转移爱尔兰大臣的大量注意力，这样留给他们处理国内忧患——比如减轻债务——的时间少之又少。

1 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

2 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

3 pensioners   

n.领取退休、养老金或抚恤金的人( pensioner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He intends to redistribute income from the middle class to poorer paid employees and pensioners. 他意图把中产阶级到低薪雇员和退休人员的收入做重新分配。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. 我自己就是一个我们的高贵的施主遗留基金的养老金领取者。 来自辞典例句

4 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

5 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

6 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。

7 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

8 distressed   

痛苦的

参考例句：

• He was too distressed and confused to answer their questions. 他非常苦恼而困惑，无法回答他们的问题。
• The news of his death distressed us greatly. 他逝世的消息使我们极为悲痛。

9 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

10 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

11 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

12 haggling   

v.讨价还价( haggle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I left him in the market haggling over the price of a shirt. 我扔下他自己在市场上就一件衬衫讨价还价。
• Some were haggling loudly with traders as they hawked their wares. 有些人正在大声同兜售货物的商贩讲价钱。 来自辞典例句