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America’s Treasury asks Congress for $700 billion to stabilise the markets
美國財(cái)政部請(qǐng)求國會(huì)撥款7000億美元以穩(wěn)定市場(chǎng)
UNTIL this week America’s authorities clung to the hope that they could tide over the financial system with a few loans until home prices stabilised and all the bad debts were accounted for. But the destruction visited on Wall Street in the past week has dashed those aspirations and forced policymakers to consider a more sweeping response. The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and AIG’s federal takeover have triggered a wholesale flight to safety that could turn illiquid institutions insolvent. Healthy corporations can no longer issue bonds. Banks can barely borrow from each other.
在本周以前，美國當(dāng)局還一直堅(jiān)信他們用一些貸款就能穩(wěn)住金融系統(tǒng)直到房屋價(jià)格企穩(wěn)并且所有的壞賬都得以解決。但是本周對(duì)于華爾街毀滅性的打擊使得他們?cè)瓉淼膲?mèng)想破滅，迫使這些政策制定者不得不考慮更加全面的應(yīng)對(duì)方法。雷曼的破產(chǎn)和AIG被政府接管迫使資金都流入安全港避難，從而使得那些流動(dòng)性匱乏的機(jī)構(gòu)瀕臨倒閉。現(xiàn)在，就連運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)良好的公司也不再發(fā)行債券，銀行間的同業(yè)拆解更是鳳毛麟角。
The federal government, having lent hundreds of billions of dollars to banks and investment banks and AIG, now thinks it must put permanent capital into the financial system to restore confidence and stop the vicious spiral. Hank Paulson, the treasury secretary, and Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, met Congressional leaders towards the end of the week. And on Saturday September 20th Mr Paulson sent a preliminary plan under which the federal government would be authorised to purchase up to $700 billion of “residential or commercial mortgages and any securities, obligations, or other instruments that are based on or related to such mortgages” originated or issued on or before Wednesday. It could buy them from any financial institution headquartered in the United States.
已經(jīng)給予商業(yè)銀行、投行以及AIG數(shù)千億美元的美國聯(lián)邦政府認(rèn)為，必須給金融系統(tǒng)注入永久資金來重塑信心并且停止惡性循環(huán)。財(cái)長(zhǎng)保爾森和美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)主席伯南克將在本周末會(huì)見國會(huì)領(lǐng)袖。在周六（9月20日），保爾森會(huì)做出一份初步計(jì)劃。這份計(jì)劃要求美國聯(lián)邦政府授權(quán)購入多達(dá)7000億美元的，本周三及其以前創(chuàng)立的或者發(fā)行的”住房和商業(yè)抵押貸款，證券和債券以及其它基于住房抵押的或者與住房抵押有關(guān)的票據(jù)”。這將會(huì)從任何總部位于美國的金融機(jī)構(gòu)買入。
America’s financial regulators had already taken some steps to restore order to the markets. On Friday it followed the example set by their British counterparts and temporarily banned the short-selling of shares in financial institutions. Short-sellers have taken the blame for some of the instability. The Treasury also announced that it would provide guarantees of $50 billion to money-market funds, where cracks are also appearing.
美國金融監(jiān)管者在重整市場(chǎng)秩序上已經(jīng)采取一些措施了。周五，美國監(jiān)管者循其英國同行的先例，暫時(shí)關(guān)閉金融機(jī)構(gòu)的賣空行為。有人指責(zé)賣空行為是導(dǎo)致市場(chǎng)不穩(wěn)的原因之一。財(cái)政部也發(fā)表聲明表示會(huì)給貨幣市場(chǎng)基金提供500億美元的擔(dān)保。貨幣市場(chǎng)基金的裂痕已經(jīng)開始顯現(xiàn)。
At the same time, the Federal Reserve announced two measures aimed at easing strains in money markets. It will buy short-term debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from primary dealers. In a sign of the acute stress in markets this week, this paper has been trading at spreads of almost three precentage points above government debt of comparable maturity despite the de facto nationalisation of the mortgage agencies two weeks ago. The Fed will also extend loans to banks to buy asset-backed commercial paper from money-market funds that face redemptions.
與此同時(shí)，美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)發(fā)布兩項(xiàng)措施以放松貨幣市場(chǎng)的限制。美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)將會(huì)從一級(jí)交易商那里購入兩房發(fā)行的短期債。在本周已經(jīng)出現(xiàn)異常巨大壓力跡象的市場(chǎng)，盡管兩房實(shí)際上已經(jīng)在兩周前就被”國有化”了，但是他們發(fā)行的短期債卻比與之相當(dāng)?shù)囊狡诘恼畟南⒉钜叱鼋齻€(gè)百分點(diǎn)。美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)也會(huì)從貨幣市場(chǎng)買入面臨贖回的有資產(chǎn)背景的商業(yè)票據(jù)，這相當(dāng)于美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)擴(kuò)大貸款范疇到銀行業(yè)。
The authorities are considering two broad approaches to shore up the financial system. One is to create an institution to provide capital to weakened institutions. A proposal floated on Thursday by Charles Schumer, a Democratic senator, would recreate the Depression-era Reconstruction Finance Corporation to “provide capital to struggling financial institutions in exchange for an equity stake.” The banks would have to let judges write down delinquent mortgages to levels homeowners could afford. Such an institution could conceivably relieve the Fed of its politically compromising loans to Bear Stearns and AIG.
美國當(dāng)局正在考慮兩個(gè)全面支持金融系統(tǒng)的方法。一種方法是建立一家新的機(jī)構(gòu)給那些陷入困境的公司提供資金。這個(gè)建議由民主黨參議員Charles Schumer于周二提出。這個(gè)建議會(huì)使得經(jīng)濟(jì)大蕭條時(shí)期的復(fù)興銀行公司重現(xiàn)江湖。這家公司是”以換取股權(quán)的方式給陷入困境的金融機(jī)構(gòu)提供資金。”這樣銀行就會(huì)允許被評(píng)定并減記未償付的抵押貸款，從而使得房屋擁有者可以承受。這樣一個(gè)機(jī)構(gòu)可以減輕美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)的壓力，美聯(lián)儲(chǔ)用于政治上的壓力不得不貸款給貝爾斯登以及AIG。
The problem is that such an approach might not have much impact until bad debts drove many institutions to the brink of failure and they had nowhere else to turn. By that point, the economy would be in dire straits and the financial system in chaos. Moreover, the Bush administration has opposed forcing lenders to write down their mortgages.
