pbs高端访谈:塞浦路斯银行危机引发对公正的质疑

 　　MARGARET WARNER:For more, we turn to Liz Alderman of The New York Times in Nicosia, Cyprus.

　　And, Liz, thank you for joining us.

　　Tell us more about these depositors who are going to take the hit for this, who are going to finance this, essentially¹. How big a hit will they take and who are they?

　　LIZ ALDERMAN, The New York Times: What's happening is that, as you know, Cyprus received a 10 billion euro bailout last night, something cobbled together at the very last minute between the president of Cyprus and euro area finance ministers.

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　　In exchange for that, what is going to happen is effectively a significant downsizing of this country's outsized banking² sector³. One of the largest banks here has effectively gone bankrupt. It's going to -- part of it is going to be merged⁴ with another bank, and this is actually something that Cyprus had fought all last week to try to protect, because without a big banking sector, a lot of people say that Cyprus' economy is going to be in significant peril⁵ in the future.

　　MARGARET WARNER:And I gather a lot of these big depositors are Russians, other foreigners? How much is known about them?

　　LIZ ALDERMAN:A lot of the deposits, particularly at the major banks, are certainly from Russians. Cyprus has, you know, a long history with Russia. In recent years, a lot of—we had a lot of Russians coming to this island and basically sort of seeking a safe haven⁶ for their money, given some of the instability in Russia.

　　What has happened, however, is that that has drawn⁷ suspicion over time that, for example, some oligarchs or even some money of questionable⁸ origin is in the banking system. And that's one reason why European leaders and particularly Chancellor⁹ Angela Merkel wanted to take a much closer look at Cyprus' banking sector as a part of this whole bailout.

　　MARGARET WARNER:And so, as part of this bailout, how fundamentally will the Cypriot essentially economy be restructured or changed?

　　LIZ ALDERMAN:The Cypriot economy basically lives and breathes on finance.

　　Ever since it joined the European Union, it has shifted away from an economy that had produced a lot of goods over many years to one that basically produced services, and that is finance. So with one of the big banks out of the game, with question marks hanging over whether the financial system, you know, is going to be stable with another big player left, you know, the concern is that, first of all, there are going to be thousands of layoffs¹⁰ from one bank, Laiki Bank, which is closing.

　　And, furthermore, there are going to be a lot of problems, you know, for businesses that had big accounts in these banks. The accounts had been frozen. Nobody has been able to get money out to pay suppliers, to pay their people. There's a concern that there is going to be sort of a wave of bankruptcies¹¹. And that is something that would also ripple—ripple through this economy.

　　And it is raising questions about whether this really would be the last bailout needed for this country.

　　MARGARET WARNER:So, how have people been coping these last 10 days as I gather credit was really frozen up? And what's been the reaction today from Cypriots?

　　LIZ ALDERMAN:Well, the last week here has been a little bit surreal.

　　People woke up here, you know, last Saturday to radio announcements that basically the government had agreed with European leaders to reach into their bank accounts and take money directly out of their bank accounts in order to meet a payment that E.U. lenders had been demanding in exchange for this bailout.

　　That set off a wave of anxiety. Throughout the week, we had obviously a lot of people, as you saw in the images during the week of people lined up at the ATM machines, and an atmosphere of uncertainty¹². There have been some businesses that have stopped taking credit and stopped taking checks. Cash only. Cash is king now at a lot of places.

　　And, you know, furthermore, there was a much deeper fear that, if something didn't happen, if something didn't come together, that Cyprus could very well be the first country to actually have to exit the Eurozone. A bit of a sigh of relief was breathed this morning after the bailout, but now already questions are starting to rise again about whether it's going to be enough and does it stop here.

　　MARGARET WARNER:Now, this is the first European bailout in which the big depositors at big insolvent¹³ banks were required to take a hit. Is that being seen as a template for further bailouts? In other words, what's the message to other banks and other countries here?

　　LIZ ALDERMAN:Yes. The message is that a precedent¹⁴ is being set.

　　The message from a lot of people in Brussels and particularly from Germany is if you're a country that's gotten into trouble because you have let your banks run amok, then your banks and the people who are in those banks need to pay for it. That's something that surely, you know, resonates back in the United States, after what we saw happen on Wall Street after 2008.

　　But it also raises a lot of questions about fairness, particularly for small depositors who had nothing to do with the major problems that were racked up at these banks, and legitimate¹⁵ businesses as well that are now going to see a significant amount of their money being wiped out.

　　MARGARET WARNER:Well, Liz Alderman of The New York Times, thank you.

1 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

2 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

3 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

5 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

6 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

7 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

8 questionable   

adj.可疑的，有问题的

参考例句：

• There are still a few questionable points in the case.这个案件还有几个疑点。
• Your argument is based on a set of questionable assumptions.你的论证建立在一套有问题的假设上。

9 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

10 layoffs   

临时解雇( layoff的名词复数 )； 停工，停止活动

参考例句：

• Textile companies announced 2000 fresh layoffs last week. 各纺织公司上周宣布再次裁员两千人。
• Stock prices broke when the firm suddenly announced layoffs. 当公司突然宣布裁员时，股票价格便大跌

11 bankruptcies   

n.破产( bankruptcy的名词复数 )；倒闭；彻底失败；（名誉等的）完全丧失

参考例句：

• It's a matter of record that there were ten bankruptcies in the town last year. 去年这个城市有十家破产是事实。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Business bankruptcies rose 50 percent over the previous year. 破产企业的数量比前一年增加５０％。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

12 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

13 insolvent   

adj.破产的，无偿还能力的

参考例句：

• They lost orders and were insolvent within weeks.他们失去了订货，几周后就无法偿还债务。
• The bank was declared insolvent.银行被宣布破产。

14 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

15 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。