RISE TAKES EUROZONE RATES TO 7-YEAR HIGH
欧央行加息25基点至4.25% 达7年新高
Friday, July 04, 2008
Eurozone interest rates hit a seven-year high yesterday but markets were relieved by a less-hawkish tone from the European Central Bank, which damped fears of further rises to come.
欧元区利率昨日升至7年来的最高水平，但市场认为欧洲央行(ECB)的口吻并不强硬，从而打消了人们对未来进一步加息的担忧。
The ECB comments prompted a fall in the value of the euro against the dollar and helped pare back slightly the earlier record high oil price of $145.85 a barrel. It also contributed to a modest recovery in European and US equity markets, which were also relieved by the publication of American jobs data less gloomy than had been feared.
欧洲央行的言论导致欧元兑美元汇率出现下跌，并帮助此前达到每桶145.85美元创纪录水平的油价小幅回落。欧美股市也因此小幅反弹；促使股市反弹的另外一个因素是，市场认为美国公布的就业数据不像早先担心的那样糟糕。
The ECB's fight against inflation, which led to the quarter- point rise in the main interest rate to 4.25 per cent, received powerful backing from Germany when Peer Steinbrück, the finance minister, told the Financial Times that he had “full respect” for its decision.
为了抑制通货膨胀，欧洲央行昨日决定加息25个基点，将主导利率提高至4.25%。此举得到了德国方面的强力支持。德国财政部长佩尔•施泰因布吕克(Peer Steinbruck)对英国《金融时报》表示，他“完全尊重”欧洲央行的决定。
“I am convinced that there is a high probability that we can overcome the financial turmoil during the next year or year-and-a-half. But I think worldwide inflation will affect us for a longer time,” Mr Steinbrück said.
“我相信，我们很有可能在未来一年或一年半期间战胜金融动荡。但我认为，全球性的通货膨胀会影响我们更长时间，”施泰因布吕克表示。
As oil prices surged to a record, Mr Trichet took the unusual step of urging an easing of supply constraints. “There are a number of industrialised countries preventing drilling . . . that are preventing exploration of new fields,” he said without mentioning specific countries.
随着油价飙升至创纪录水平，欧洲央行行长让-克劳德•特里谢(Jean-Claude Trichet)发表不寻常言论，敦促相关国家政府在供给层面放松限制。“有很多工业化国家禁止本土钻探……这阻碍了新油田的勘探。”他没有指明是哪些国家。
But financial markets scaled back expectations that yesterday's move would be followed by more interest rate increases after Mr Trichet said the ECB had “no bias” about future moves.
不过，在特里谢表示欧洲央行对于未来的政策动向“没有倾向”之后，市场对其未来进一步加息的预期有所降温。
Together with his assertion that interest rates at 4.25 per cent would “contribute to achieving our objective”, his comments suggested the latest increase was meant largely as a sign of ECB determination to bring inflation back under control and might not be followed by further rises. That led to the euro weakening against the dollar, although Mr Trichet left open the possibility of further hikes.
此外，他还表示，4.25%的利率水平将“有助于实现我们的目标”。他的评论表明，最新加息举措很大程度上代表了欧洲央行控制通胀的决心，未必跟随有后续加息举措。虽然特里谢没有排除未来加息的可能性，但这还是导致欧元兑美元出现下跌。
By last night, markets saw only a 25 per cent chance of a quarter percentage point rise in September and were no longer pricing in rises above that.
截至昨夜，市场预计9月份进一步加息25个基点的可能性只有25%，在此之上再无加息预期。
Mr Trichet shocked markets last month when he revealed the ECB was mulling an interest rate increase – a move that highlighted how concerns had switched from fears about the impact on growth of the financial market crisis to worries about global inflation.
特里谢上个月的一席话曾震惊市场，他当时表示，欧洲央行正在考虑加息。此举突出表明，央行担心的对象，已经从金融市场危机对经济增长的影响，转变为全球通胀.
Data this week showed soaring oil prices had pushed eurozone inflation to 4 per cent – the highest since the launch of the euro in 1999 and more than double the ECB target of an annual rate “below but close” to 2 per cent.
本周发布的数据显示，不断飙升的油价导致欧元区通货膨胀率达到4%，是1999年欧元问世以来的最高水平，也是欧洲央行通胀目标逾两倍——其目标是保持年度通胀率在“低于但接近”2%的水平。