Pressure is mounting on the European Central Bank to take action against a persistently strong euro with a leading industrialist calling on Frankfurt to tackle the “crazy” strength of the currency.
欧洲央行(ECB)面临越来越大的压力,要求其对持续坚挺的欧元采取行动。一位商界领袖呼吁法兰克福方面采取措施应对欧元“疯狂”的高汇率。
Fabrice Brégier, chief executive of Airbus’s passenger jet business, said the ECB should intervene to push the value of the euro against the dollar down by 10 per cent from an “excessive” $1.35 to $1.20-$1.25.
空客(Airbus)客机业务首席执行官法布里斯•布雷吉耶(Fabrice Brégier)表示,欧洲央行应出手干预,将“过高”的1欧元兑1.35美元的比价推低10%,至1欧元兑1.20至1.25美元。
“[Europe] cannot be the only economic zone of the world that doesn’t consider its currency as a weapon . . . as a key asset to promote its economy,” he said in an interview with the FT.
布雷吉耶在接受英国《金融时报》采访时表示:“全世界所有经济区都将自己的货币视为武器……作为促进自身经济发展的关键资产,(欧洲)不能例外。”
Mr Brégier’s comments coincide with calls from the International Monetary Fund and some eurozone politicians for the bank to consider a programme of quantitative easing to tackle low inflation, sluggish economic growth and the strong euro.
布雷吉耶的言论呼应了国际货币基金组织(IMF)以及欧元区一些政界人士对欧洲央行的呼吁,即考虑推出量化宽松计划,以解决低通胀、经济增长疲软以及欧元汇率偏高的问题。
Benoit Coeuré, a member of the ECB’s executive board, acknowledged in an interview the stronger the euro became, the more the bank would come under pressure to act. “A lot of the low level of inflation . . . is due to the strength of the euro so the stronger the euro the more we have to do monetary accommodation.”
欧洲央行执行董事会成员伯努瓦•克雷(Benoit Coeuré)在一次采访中承认,欧元越是走强,欧洲央行就越是受到采取行动的压力。“低通胀在很大程度上……是欧元的强势地位所致,因此欧元越是走强,我们就越需要推出宽松货币政策。”
He rejected calls to target the exchange rate explicitly. “Exchange rates are set on global markets, so it wouldn’t be wise or possible for us to have it as a policy target.” He also insisted there was no pressing need for the ECB to embark on a round of QE. “I see the odds as being low,” he said. “I am very convinced that what we decided already will work and will prop up inflation.”
他拒绝了设定明确汇率目标的呼吁。“汇率是由全球市场决定的,因此将汇率作为一项政策目标既不明智也不可能。”他还坚称,欧洲央行并无紧迫必要启动一轮量化宽松。“我认为可能性不大。”他说,“我非常确信我们已经做出的决策将发挥作用,推动通胀上行。”
Last month, the ECB unveiled a range of exceptional measures, including cutting a key interest rate below zero, to tackle the threat of deflation. Despite the strength of the measures, the euro has barely weakened, and was worth $1.36 yesterday. Some economists believe that the euro is unlikely to depreciate against the dollar considerably unless the ECB engages in QE.
上月,欧洲央行推出了削减关键利率至负数等一系列特殊举措,以对付通缩威胁。尽管这些举措力度很大,但欧元几乎丝毫没有走弱,昨日收于1欧元兑1.36美元。一些经济学家认为,除非欧洲央行祭出量化宽松,否则欧元相对于美元不太可能大幅走低。
Mr Coeuré expressed doubts about the effectiveness of QE, which has been used by the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England. “Something that has worked in the US or in the UK may not work in the eurozone because we are financed by banks not by financial markets. The level of government bond yields is very low. Why would we need QE?”
克雷对量化宽松的有效性表示怀疑。美联储(Fed)和英国央行(BoE)都采取了这种政策。“对美国或英国有效的政策,对欧元区或许不会起作用,因为我们的融资来自银行,而不是金融市场。眼下政府债券收益率水平很低。我们有何理由需要量化宽松?”
Any explicit attempt to weaken the euro and is likely to be opposed in Germany. “We need a stable currency and we have one. The euro at $1.35 gives us a stable framework for competitiveness,” said one senior German official. “We do not need to talk the euro up or down. Currency manipulation is not a route to competitiveness, it is a soft alternative to hard explanations to the electorate.”
任何明显旨在拉低欧元的举动,都很可能遭到德国的反对。德国一位高官表示:“我们需要稳定的货币,而我们也已经有了稳定的货币。1欧元兑1.35美元为我们提高竞争力提供了稳定的框架。我们没必要唱高或唱衰欧元。操纵货币不是提高竞争力的途径,相对于向选民解释的艰巨任务,它是相对容易的选择。”