Greece Renews Debt Talks with International Creditors

 　　Greece has started a second round of talks with international creditors¹ on its precarious² financial plight³, as there are new warning signs throughout Europe about the fallout from the continent's debt contagion⁴.

　　Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos talked late Tuesday with officials from the International Monetary⁵ Fund (IMF), the European Union and the European Central Bank. Initial discussions were halted Monday so that financial experts could take a renewed look at Greece's plan to cut its huge debt load.

　　Creditors are demanding that the government in Athens speed up its spending cuts and lay off thousands of government workers before they will release an $11 billion portion of Greece's $159 billion bailout from last year. Without the new money, Greece is in danger of defaulting on its financial obligations next month.

　　On Tuesday, the Greek government promised more cuts in government payrolls⁶ in addition to the 200,000 it has laid off in the last two years. As talks resumed to avert⁷ the immediate⁸ crisis, the Fitch Ratings financial services firm said it expects Athens to eventually default on its obligations, but not leave the bloc⁹ of 17 nations that uses the common euro currency.

　　The EU's competition commissioner¹⁰, Joaquin Almunia, warned that more of the region's banks may be in need of increasing their capital reserves. Earlier this year, nine banks failed so-called "stress tests" designed to identify which ones are holding too much debt from European governments in danger of defaulting on their loans.

　　On Monday, the Standard & Poor's financial services firm cut Italy's credit rating one notch¹¹ from A+ to A and kept its outlook negative. S&P said several factors played into the decision for the credit downgrade, including economic, fiscal¹² and political weaknesses.

　　The Italian parliament last week passed an austerity plan valued at more than $80 billion.  The government is hopeful the austerity plan will balance the Italian budget by 2013.  Italy is the eurozone's third largest economy.

　　A Greek default could have devastating¹³ consequences throughout the entire European Union, the United States and world financial markets.

1 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

3 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

4 contagion   

n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延

参考例句：

• A contagion of fear swept through the crowd.一种恐惧感在人群中迅速蔓延开。
• The product contagion effect has numerous implications for marketing managers and retailers.产品传染效应对市场营销管理者和零售商都有很多的启示。

5 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

6 payrolls   

n.（公司员工的）工资名单( payroll的名词复数 )；（公司的）工资总支出，工薪总额

参考例句：

• Indices of employment, payrolls, and production steadied in February 1931931年2月，就业、工资额和生产指数稳定。 来自辞典例句
• Wall Street responded to the payrolls figures with gusto. 华尔街对就业数据作出了积极的反应。 来自互联网

7 avert   

v.防止，避免；转移(目光、注意力等)

参考例句：

• He managed to avert suspicion.他设法避嫌。
• I would do what I could to avert it.我会尽力去避免发生这种情况。

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

10 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

11 notch   

n.(V字形)槽口，缺口，等级

参考例句：

• The peanuts they grow are top-notch.他们种的花生是拔尖的。
• He cut a notch in the stick with a sharp knife.他用利刃在棒上刻了一个凹痕。

12 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

13 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。