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美债危机临头 全球市场忧心

Less than a week before the U.S. government could run out of money to pay its bills, the world's financial markets are already showing concern. If officials cannot agree to let Washington borrow more money before the deadline, the global economy will likely feel the pain.

再过两天，美国政府支付账单的钱可能用光，世界各地金融市场已显现担忧。如果官员们不能在截止日期前同意让华盛顿借贷更多资金，全球经济可能会受影响。

After days of losses, stocks have been gaining on word that President Barack Obama and top Republican lawmakers are discussing ways to keep the U.S. government from defaulting on its obligations.

The president says a default would endanger America's standing¹ in the world economy.

奥巴马总统说，债务违约会危及美国在世界经济中的地位。

“It would disrupt markets. It would undermine the world’s confidence in America as the bedrock of the global economy, and it might permanently² increase our borrowing costs," said President Obama.

他说： “这将扰乱市场。这将破坏世界对美国作为全球经济基石的信心，并可能会永久增加我们的借贷成本。 ”

Obama's Treasury³ secretary, Jack⁴ Lew, told senators the uncertainty⁵ around raising the debt limit is already stressing financial markets, meaning the U.S. government will have to pay higher interest rates to borrow money.

奥巴马政府的财政部长杰克.卢(Jack Lew)告诉参议员们，关于提高债务上限的不确定性已经在使金融市场紧张，这意味着美国政府将不得不支付更高的利率来借钱。

“At our auction⁶ of four-week Treasury bills on Tuesday, the interest rate nearly tripled, relative to the prior week’s auction, and it reached the highest level since October 2008," said Lew.

他说： “上周二我们四个星期的国债券拍卖，利率比前一周的拍卖接近翻了两倍，并达到2008年10月以来的最高水平。”

Economist⁷ Thomas Hungerford, at the Economic Policy Institute says that means trouble for the world economy.

经济政策研究所（Economic Policy Institute）的经济学家托马斯.亨格福德说，这意味着世界经济的麻烦。

He says higher interest rates on Treasury notes could make loans more expensive for American businesses and consumers, driving up the cost of major purchases and pushing sales down.

他说，国债券利率上升可能增加美国企业和消费者的贷款费用，升高重大采购的成本并使销售减少。

“If consumers stop buying, they are going to stop buying foreign goods, so imports into the U.S. will be affected⁸, which is going to affect foreign manufacturers and foreign providers of services," said Hungerford.

他说： “如果消费者停止购买，他们将停止购买外国货，所以美国的进口将受到影响，这会影响外国制造商和外国服务供应商。”

America's biggest creditors¹⁰ are nervous about a possible default on U.S. debt.  China and Japan are holding $2.5 trillion in Treasury bonds between them.

美国最大的债主们对美国债务可能违约感到紧张。中国和日本两国持有2.5万亿美元的美国国债。

China's vice⁹ finance minister has called on U.S. officials to end their standoff and pay their bills.

"We ask that the United States earnestly takes steps to resolve in a timely way before October 17 the political issues around the debt ceiling and prevent a U.S. debt default," said Zhu Guangyao.

“我们要求美方在10月17号之前采取切实措施及时地解决国债上限的争执，防止美国国债违约，确保中国对美投资的安全，确保全球经济的复苏进程不会由此受到严重干扰，这是美国的责任。”

Traders who buy U.S. bonds for foreign governments have recently backed away from buying short-term Treasury bills.

为外国政府购买美国债券的交易商最近避免购买短期美国债券。

However, leaders of major bond firms are confident the crisis will be resolved.

然而，主要债券公司的领导人有信心，危机将得到解决。

Bill Gross, CEO of PIMCO, said, “Is there a possibility of a debt default?  Really, no. I think it is basically theatrics posed by politicians and the press."

比尔.格罗斯（Bill Gross）是太平洋投资管理公司（PIMCO）的首席执行官。他说： “是否有可能出现债务违约？真的，没有。我觉得它基本上是政治家和新闻媒体搞出来的戏剧。”

But Larry Fink, who leads BlackRock, another major investment firm, said the possibility of a default should never have occurred.

不过，另一家大投资商、贝莱德公司（BlackRock）领导人拉里.芬克(Larry Fink)表示，出现违约的可能性根本就不应该发生。

“Every country in the world looks up to this country, and the fact that we even have a narrative¹¹ about the questioning of a default is entirely¹² unacceptable, and importantly, it will have a psychological change in how people look to the United States," said Fink.

他说： “世界上的每个国家都盯着这个国家，而我们竟然有债务违约问题的说法，这个事实是完全不可接受的。重要的是，这在人们如何看待美国上面将有一个心理变化。”

The world's markets are watching the comings and goings in Washington, hoping for a quick resolution.

全球市场正注视着华盛顿的动向，希望出现一个迅速的解决方案。