Britain Unveils Huge British Bank Bail-Out Plan
英国拟用875亿美元公款救银行
Britain announced Wednesday a huge, comprehensive government plan that will pump nearly $90 billion of taxypayers' money into the British banking system to shore it up.
英国政府星期三宣布一项规模庞大的全面的银行救助计划。这项计划动用将近900亿美元纳税人的钱来救助英国的银行系统。
The British government has moved in to partially nationalize all of the major banks in Britain.
英国政府采取行动,把英国所有的主要银行部分国有化。
$87.5 billion of taxpayer funds will be invested by the Treasury department into the country's eight largest banks and mortgage-lending institutions.
英国财政部将把875亿美元纳税人的钱注入英国最大的八家银行和抵押贷款机构。
Prime Minister Gordon Brown says the plan had been worked on for weeks and given the current global turmoil, it was absolutely necessary to roll it out now.
首相戈登·布朗说,这项计划的酝酿已经持续了几个星期。在全球金融动荡持续的情况下,该计划现在出台是有必要的。
"Our stability and restructuring program is comprehensive, it is specific and it breaks new ground," Mr. Brown said. "The program is designed to restore confidence and trust in the financial system and more than that, to put the British banking system on a sounder footing and to build strength for the future so that it can support jobs and prosperity right across our economy."
“我们的金融稳定和重组计划是全面的、具体的、突破性的。计划的宗旨在于恢复金融市场的信心和信任。更重要的,计划将有助于稳固英国金融系统的基础,打造未来的强劲增长,支持就业,实现经济繁荣。”
British Treasury Secretary Alistair Darling says the plan involves recapitalizing banks, boosting the amount of money lending institutions can borrow from the Bank of England in short-term loans and loan guarantees will be made available at commercial rates to encourage banks to lend to each other.
英国财政大臣达林说,计划的主要内容包括补充银行资本,增加央行向金融机构发放的短期贷款,同时以商业利率为银行间贷款提供担保,以此鼓励银行同业借贷。
"It is a really a fundamental step that we are taking but it is part of a process, it is part of a whole range of things that we are doing to support the economy," Darling said. "Stabilizing the banking system is one important part of that and as I have said on many occasions, we will continue to do whatever it takes to ensure that we see this process through."
“我们采取的是基本措施,这是整个过程的一部分。我们采取了一系列广泛措施支持经济,这是其中的一个步骤。稳定银行系统是其中的重要一步。正如我以前多次提到的那样,我们将竭尽全力确保整个过程的实施。”
Prime Minister Brown says he has been talking to other leaders in Europe about the British program and about further actions that could be launched together.
布朗首相说,他已经和其它欧洲领导人就英国的方案和其它可能的协调行动进行过交谈。
"Because these are also global problems, global action is required," Mr. Brown said. "This is a long haul and we have invited other European countries to consider proposals we have put to them this morning on medium-term funding and are in active consultation about how we can adopt a European-wide funding plan."
“因为这些是全球性问题,因此需要全球性行动。这是个漫长的过程,我们已经邀请了其它欧洲国家考虑我们今天上午就中期注资计划提出的建议。同时,我们也在就如何采取欧洲范围内的注资计划进行积极磋商。”
Although some here say it is wrong for taxpayers to rescue the banks, Treasury Secretary Darling says to do nothing would have had untold consequences.
尽管批评人士指出,用纳税人的钱来救助银行是错误的,但是英国财政大臣达林说,不采取任何行动将导致严重后果。
"If you did not do anything, there would be a very significant cost to all of us as taxpayers," Darling said. "I believe this is the right thing to do. People expect us to take decisive, firm action especially to ensure that we stabilize the banking system and help it get through this period."
“如果我们什么都不做的话,所有纳税人都将承受巨大损失。我相信这是正确的一步。人们希望我们采取果断、坚决的行动,尤其是稳定银行系统,帮助它们度过难关。”
The deal should for now stop the nervous talk about whether the financial institutions here are safe or not. The government intervention has come after days of intense pressure on British banks amid investor fears that they could collapse if they did not receive a large liquidity lifeline.
英国政府的措施目前平息了有关英国金融机构是否安全的议论。在政府干预的前几天,英国银行遭受巨大压力,投资人担心,银行如果得不到大笔的流动现金就可能倒闭。