New Fears on Europe, Italy's Borrowing Costs Jump Again

 　　Italy had to pay nearly double the interest rates to borrow money in a six-month bond auction¹ Friday, reflecting new fears about economic problems in the countries that use the common European currency.

　　The euro currency and world stock markets also fell in value Friday.

　　The office of Italy's new Prime Minister Mario Monti issued a statement Friday saying that Germany and France had agreed with him at Thursday's mini-summit of the eurozones three largest economies that a debt collapse² in Italy would be "the end of the euro."

　　Both French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor³ Angela Merkel said at Thursday's meeting they would support Italy and the euro, and called for changes to European treaties to force better fiscal⁴ policies.  However, there was no agreement about increasing the role of the European Central Bank in supporting troubled eurozone economies, or selling unified⁵ eurobonds.

　　The lack of concrete action at the meeting in Strasbourg, France, fueled investor⁶ fears of possible debt defaults by southern European countries. Italy's sovereign debt currently is estimated at $2.6 trillion - far more than Greece or other European countries that have been given EU and IMF bailouts.

　　In Friday's auction of six-month Italian bonds, the government had to agree to pay 6.5 percent interest, nearly double the rate in a similar auction last month. Longer-term interest rates for Italian bonds are once again above seven percent - rates similar to those faced by Greece, Ireland and Portugal when they were forced to seek international bailouts.

　　Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Belgium's rating by one notch⁷ Friday, making it more expensive for Belgium to borrow in the future.

　　Belgium's rating was cut to AA from AA+ which is still investment grade, but the agency warned it is considering further cuts.

1 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 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。

4 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。

5 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

6 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

7 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。