评论
打印
FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged on Thursday, a decision overshadowed by speculation about what other options might be available to revive the eurozone economy.
法兰克福——欧洲央行周四决定不调整其基准利率，人们对还有哪些其他选择能重振欧元区经济的猜测让这一决定显得逊色。
The decision to keep the benchmark interest rate at 0.05 percent was a formality because the rate is already effectively as low as it can go. An increase would be out of the question when eurozone growth is slowing.
把基准利率维持在0.05％的决定只是例行公事，因为基准利率实际上已经不能再低了。在欧元区经济增长仍在放缓的情况下，绝不可能提升利率。
Instead, analysts and investors were attentive on Thursday to any clues about whether the central bank is moving toward more powerful but more contentious methods of stimulating the eurozone economy, such as large-scale purchases of government bonds.
分析师和投资者周四反而更关心是否有任何迹象表明，央行正在朝着采用更有力、但也更具争议性的方法来刺激欧元区经济，比如大规模采购政府债券。
At a news briefing, Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, said that the bank's Governing Council had been unanimous “in its commitment to using additional unconventional instruments within its mandate.” He said that the council had charged the central bank staff and “the relevant Eurosystem committees with ensuring the timely preparation of further measures to be implemented, if needed.”
在新闻发布会上，欧洲央行行长马里奥·德拉吉(Mario Draghi)说，央行的管理委员会对“采用职权范围内的其他非常规手段的承诺”意见一致。他说，委员会已授权央行工作人员以及“有关的欧元系统委员会，如果有必要的话，确保及时准备实施进一步的措施”。
Since it last met a month ago, the central bank has begun buying private sector assets known as covered bonds, bundles of bank loans packaged for sale to investors and guaranteed by issuing banks. As of Oct. 31, the central bank had spent 4.8 billion euros, or about $6 billion, buying covered bonds. It plans to make more purchases in the coming months.
自从一个月前的上次会议以来，欧洲央行已经开始购买被称为担保债券的私营行业资产，也就是由发行债券的银行担保的、打包出售给投资者的银行贷款。截至10月31日，央行已经花了48亿欧元（约合367亿元人民币）购买担保债券，并计划在未来几个月中购买更多。
Because the supply of private sector assets that meet the central bank’s quality standards is limited, many analysts expect it to eventually resort to purchases of government bonds, emulating the quantitative easing used by the Federal Reserve in the United States. The European Central Bank is widely seen as having acted timidly compared with the Federal Reserve or the Bank of England.
由于符合央行质量标准的私营行业资产的供给有限，许多分析师预计央行最终会模仿美国联邦储备使用的量化宽松政策，采取购买政府债券的做法。人们普遍认为，与美联储和英国央行相比，欧洲央行的做法不够大胆。
“We need to see more coming out of the E.C.B.,” Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, said in Frankfurt on Wednesday.
“我们需要看到欧洲央行拿出更多的措施，”穆迪信用研究(Moody's Analytics)的首席经济学家马克·赞迪(Mark Zandi)周三在法兰克福表示。
But full-scale quantitative easing would inevitably provoke an outcry in Germany, and most analysts do not expect the central bank to begin buying government bonds until next year, if ever.
但是，全面的量化宽松政策将不可避免地引起德国的强烈抗议，大多数分析师预计央行不会在明年以前开始购买政府债券，如果它打算这样做的话。
In Germany, there is widespread fear that central bank bond buying would amount to a transfer of wealth from better-off countries to poorer ones. Many Germans believe they would have to pick up the tab if some countries defaulted on bonds owned by the bank.
在德国，人们普遍担心央行购买债券的做法将会导致把较富裕国家的财富转移给较贫穷的国家。许多德国人认为，如果一些国家无力偿还银行的债券，他们将不得不替这些国家付账。
Joining the advocates for a more aggressive approach by the central bank was Ángel Gurría, the secretary general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
加入到提倡央行应采取更积极行动的人中的是经济合作与发展组织秘书长安赫尔·古里亚(Ángel Gurría)。
“There is an increasing risk of stagnation in the euro area,” Mr. Gurría said Thursday morning at a news conference in Paris. “Countries must employ all monetary, fiscal and structural reform policies at their disposal to address these risks and support growth.”
“欧元区的停滞风险越来越大，”古里亚周四上午在巴黎举行的新闻发布会上说。“各个国家必须采取他们可采用的所有的货币、财政和结构改革政策，以应对这些风险，支持经济增长。”
But because of the political risk, Mr. Zandi of Moody’s said it was more likely that the central bank would buy corporate bonds, debt issued by businesses, which would be less contentious.
但是，穆迪的赞迪说，出于政治风险的考虑，央行更可能会购买企业债券，也就是由企业发行的债券，这样做的争议会比较小。
Recent economic data has added pressure on the central bank to act. The annual rate of inflation in the eurozone was 0.4 percent in October, up from 0.3 percent in September but still dangerously low in the eyes of many economists. In addition, eurozone unemployment remains at 11.5 percent.
最近公布的经济数据给央行采取行动增加了压力。欧元区十月份的通货膨胀率是0.4％，高于九月份的0.3％，但在许多经济学家眼里仍低得非常危险。此外，欧元区的失业率保持在11.5％。
While the eurozone is not officially in deflation, a destructive downward price spiral, even the current low level of inflation can cause consumers to delay making purchases, companies to lose revenue and unemployment to soar from its already high levels.
虽然欧元区还未正式出现价格破坏性螺旋下滑的通货紧缩情况，但目前的低通货膨胀率足以导致消费者推迟购买，让企业失去营收，及让失业率从已经很高的水平再度上升。
