EU Finance Ministers Debate Financial Crisis

 　　EU finance ministers meeting in Brussels to discuss how to stabilize¹ banks faced with massive losses related to Greek debt, bailout fund

　　European Union finance ministers are meeting in Brussels to hammer out details on how to stabilize banks faced with massive losses related to Greece's debt and how to boost the eurozone's bailout fund.

　　The meeting comes ahead of the EU summit Sunday in the Belgian capital.

　　German Chancellor² Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy have been unable to reach an accord on a common plan.

　　France wants to turn the continent's bailout fund into a bank that would have access to vast sums of credit from the European Central Bank.  But Germany is advocating that private European banks assume bigger losses on their Greek debt.  France and the continent's central bank argue that would just weaken the banks and lead to further turmoil³ on the world's financial markets.

　　One of Europe's leading bankers, Commerzbank chief Martin Blessing⁴ in Germany, has said Greece should declare itself bankrupt and restructure its debt.  He said European banks will not voluntarily accept bigger losses on their Greek debt unless the country acknowledges it is insolvent⁵.

　　On Friday, international lenders said private banks lending money to Greece may have to forgive more than half of what the debt ridden country owes.

　　The latest review by European Union and International Monetary⁶ Fund experts showed that a Greek bond writedown of 50 to 60 percent could still leave the country's debt burden bigger than its yearly economic output by 2020.

　　European Union finance ministers Friday approved another $11 billion segment of Greece's 2010 international bailout to keep it from going bankrupt.  That leaves only the International Monetary Fund to sign off on the payment, which is a part of the $159 billion bailout.

1 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

2 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。

3 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

4 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

5 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。

6 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。