CATTI口譯短文：美國有望臨時提高債務上限

The White House and Republicans moved towards a temporary agreement on a short-term extension of the US debt limit, raising tentative hopes of averting a potential default by the world’s largest economy.

白宮(White House)和共和黨就短期提高美國債務上限達成了一項臨時協(xié)議，令人對世界最大經濟體避免潛在違約產生初步期待。

Amid mounting global pressure for a deal, Barack Obama said he would consider signing a six-week extension of US borrowings offered by the Republican leadership in Congress. The accord offered a chance of defusing the issue a week before the deadline to lift the debt limit.

面臨著越來越大的國際壓力，巴拉克奧巴馬(Barack Obama)表示，他會考慮簽署國會共和黨領導層提出的將美債上限延長六周的提案。距離最后期限僅一周之際，這一協(xié)議為化解問題提供了一次機會。

Financial markets responded favorably to the signs of a thaw in Washington, with the S&P 500 up 1.7 per cent at midday and set for its best one-day rise since the start of the year.

金融市場對華盛頓打破僵局的跡象反應積極，標普500指數(shù)(S&P 500)截至午盤上漲1.7%，有望實現(xiàn)今年初以來最大單日漲幅。

However, the White House said it would have to see a detailed proposal, and the Republican leadership, which has been buffeted by uncompromising Tea Party members in its caucus, will also have to secure the votes in Congress for the measure.

然而，白宮表示必須要看到詳細的提案。而在黨團會議中受到不妥協(xié)的茶黨(Tea Party)成員施壓的共和黨領導層也將不得不在國會爭取到足夠票數(shù)，使該提案獲得通過。

“I am hoping [Mr Obama] would look at this as a good-faith measure to move half way so that a conversation can begin,” John Boehner, the Republican House speaker, said ahead of a White House meeting with Mr Obama.

共和黨籍的眾議院議長約翰?博納(John Boehner，見上圖)在與奧巴馬在白宮開會之前表示：“我希望(奧巴馬)將此看作一項作出妥協(xié)的誠意之舉，從而開啟談話。”

Jay Carney, a spokesman for Mr Obama, said: “The president is happy that cooler heads at least seem to be prevailing in the House?...?but he believes it would be far better for the Congress to raise the debt ceiling for an extended period of time.”

白宮發(fā)言人杰伊卡尼(Jay Carney)說：“讓總統(tǒng)感到欣慰的是，至少眾議院頭腦比較清醒的人開始占上風……但他認為，國會最好能夠長期提高債務上限。”

Sustaining a truce on the debt limit will be difficult, analysts cautioned. It will also leave large parts of the US government still closed in a parallel but related stand-off over the budget that led to a partial shutdown 10 days ago.

分析師們告誡稱，在債務上限問題上保持“休戰(zhàn)”將很困難。這將會讓美國政府的很多部門依然處于關門狀態(tài);10天前，圍繞預算的一場平行但相關的對峙導致美國政府部分停擺。

The Republican leadership wants to take the threat of sovereign default off the table to allow it to refocus attention on the budget, an issue where it thinks it has a stronger negotiating position.

共和黨領導層希望消除主權債務違約的威脅，從而將精力轉向預算。他們認為，自己在預算問題上具有更強的談判地位。

The prospect of a deal pushed Treasury bill yields higher on paper set to mature in late November and early December. Bills serve a crucial role in the global financial system as collateral for bank funding and derivatives, and the sector has been hit by the specter of any delay in bill payments by the US Treasury. Jack Lew, US Treasury secretary, earlier said there was no guarantee that international investors would take priority over social security recipients and other creditors in the event of a default.

達成協(xié)議的前景，提高了11月末和12月初到期的美國短期國債的收益率。作為銀行融資和衍生品的抵押物，美國短期國債在全球金融體系中發(fā)揮著關鍵作用，而這些債券近來受到美國財政部拖欠償付可能性的沖擊。美國財政部長杰克盧(Jack Lew)早些時候指出，若發(fā)生違約，國際投資者相對于社保受益人和其他債權人的優(yōu)先權并無保障。