希臘按時償債壓低債券收益率
Greece repaid 450m it owed to the International Monetary Fund yesterday, sending bond yields sliding as investors showed relief at the country meeting its latest debt deadline.
希臘昨日償還了所欠國際貨幣基金組織(IMF) 4.5億歐元的貸款，此舉壓低了債券收益率，因爲投資者對希臘能夠償還最新到期債務感到欣慰。Yields on the country’s shortest dated notes declined, with three-year bonds declining 54 basis points to 20.08 per cent and five-year bonds falling 30bp to 14.98 per cent. The 10-year yield, which moves inversely to its price, slipped 18bp to 11.03 per cent.
希臘最短期債券收益率下降，3年期債券收益率下降54個基點，至20.08%，5年期債券下降30個基點，至14.98%。10年期債券收益率（與價格走勢相反）下滑18個基點，至11.03%。
A central bank official confirmed that the payment to the IMF had been made. Alexis Tsipras, prime minister, had warned last month that Greece would not be able to pay both its international creditors and social welfare payments without urgent financial assistance from its eurozone partners.
一位央行官員證實已向IMF支付了還款。希臘總理亞歷克西斯•齊普拉斯(Alexis Tsipras)上月警告稱，如果不能從歐元區夥伴國獲得緊急財務援助，希臘將無法既償還國際債權人的債務又支付社會福利款項。
The anti-austerity government was able to repay the IMF after it raided the cash reserves of public agencies and utilities. It should also be able pay back 420m to international investors when a six-month Treasury bill expires on April 14. But its scope for similar financial engineering is dwindling fast as more debt repayment deadlines loom.
在動用公共部門和公用事業企業的現金儲備之後，反對緊縮的希臘政府設法償還了IMF。當4月14日一隻6個月的國債到期時，它也應能償還國際投資者的4.2億歐元資金。但隨着更多的償債期限逐漸逼近，希臘實施類似金融操作的空間正在縮減。A senior Greek official this week said Athens would exhaust its cash reserves this month, putting it on course for a sovereign default in May unless its agrees a new economic reform package with the eurozone to unlock bailout aid.
一位希臘高官本週表示，希臘政府的現金儲備將於本月告罄，除非它與歐元區達成新的經濟改革方案以獲得紓困援助，否則就會在5月份發生主權違約。“Next month is a different matter. We are going to run out of money unless reforms are legislated to make some bailout funds available,” the official said on Tuesday.
這位官員週二表示：“下月情況將有所不同。如果議會未能通過改革方案從而獲得一些紓困資金，我們的資金就會告罄。”Athens faces a 950m repayment to the IMF in May as well as 2.4bn in outlays for pensions and salaries.
希臘在5月必須償還IMF的9.5億歐元貸款，還得拿出24億歐元用於國內的養老金和薪資支出。Economists are split on how and when, or even if Greece will be able to come to an accord with its lenders who have balked at some of the concessions Athens has put forward.
對於希臘如何以及何時，乃至能否與其債權人達成協議（債權人不願接受希臘提出的一些妥協方案）的問題，經濟學家們意見不一。The radical anti-austerity government has been unable to reach an agreement with the EU and IMF that would unlock 7.2bn in European funding because of foot-dragging by its economic team over reforms that would contradict Syriza’s election promises not to raise taxes or back privatisations.
由於其經濟團隊在改革方面拖沓不前——改革舉措將與左翼激進聯盟黨(Syriza)在競選時做出的不會增稅或支持私有化的承諾相悖——反對緊縮的立場激進的政府迄今未能與歐盟和IMF達成協議，因而無法獲得72億歐元的歐洲紓困資金。Finance ministry experts are scrambling to wrap up technical talks this week with officials from the European Commission, the IMF and the ECB with the aim of reaching a deal with eurozone finance ministers in Riga on April 24.
希臘財政部的專家們本週正竭力完成與歐盟委員會(European Commission)、IMF和歐洲央行官員們的技術談判，力求在4月24日在里加與歐元區各國財長們達成協議。
