Targets on trade imbalance elude G20
! o5 E4 F& r" R$ t7 ]; x Leaders from the G20 group of leading economies will next month seek to agree specific guidelines on reducing global trade imbalances, in a fresh attempt to head off a potential “currency war”.: I9 P' Z, B' l. @, G: S) E+ N
由全球大型经济体组成的20国集团(G20)领导人,将在下月寻求就减少全球贸易失衡的具体方针达成一致,以求再次努力避免潜在的“汇率战争”。
; l, ]8 ]/ g* F Finance ministers and central bank governors, meeting this weekend in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, agreed on a policy framework to contain large current account surpluses and deficits, but a proposal to set specific targets ran into opposition.
, [2 Z6 N: C8 z) I 这些国家的财长和央行行长周末在韩国庆州市开会,达成了一项旨在遏制巨额经常账户盈余和赤字的政策框架,但一项确立具体目标的提议遭到了反对。
7 s. c1 U" P8 j. @, r6 `) g The meeting also announced significant progress in reforming the International Monetary Fund, shifting power away from Europe and towards emerging nations like China and Brazil.
8 i I( M- ^# m B) i" A( ] 会议还宣布,在改革国际货币基金组织(IMF)、将权力从欧洲转移至中国和巴西等新兴国家方面,取得了重大进展。; L+ ?: H V! ?# k9 { x3 k
Analyst reaction was muted. Eswar Prasad, a former IMF official now at Cornell University in the US, said a previous attempt to impose tougher IMF surveillance of current account imbalances had achieved little while the threat of such monitoring was unlikely to trigger policy changes in countries with large surpluses and deficits.
7 b4 ?5 Z! `" J3 J) S 分析人士的反应比较温和。国际货币基金组织( IMF)前官员、美国康奈尔大学(Cornell University)教授埃斯瓦?普拉萨德(Eswar Prasad)表示,以前一项由IMF对经常账户失衡实施更严格监督的尝试,几乎一无所获;而威胁进行这样的监督,不太可能推动存在巨额盈余或赤字的国家改变政策。
]( l" s" Z/ A1 [ Todd Elmer, of Citigroup, said: “The meeting produced little pressure for the US to back away from its accommodative stance which has fuelled dollar depreciation, it does not call more strongly for increased flexibility in Asia and it appears to leave an out for some countries, like Japan, to pursue intervention or capital controls.”
8 m3 h) C& m- _3 u 花旗集团(Citigroup)的托德?埃尔默(Todd Elmer)表示:“这次会议几乎没有对美国施加任何压力,要求其逆转迄今推动美元贬值的宽松政策立场,也没有更强烈地呼吁亚洲提高灵活性,而且似乎让某些国家(如日本)放手进行干预或资本管制。”9 k8 x, m3 E1 c5 h
The US, which has been pushing China to allow its currency to rise and reduce its huge trade surplus, claimed victory. Tim Geithner, Treasury secretary, said after the meeting: “The most important thing we achieved is agreement on a framework for curbing excess trade imbalances in the future.”. t* G% q5 T9 d" v8 E( b
一直在推动中国让人民币升值、并减少其巨额贸易盈余的美国宣称获胜。美国财长蒂姆?盖特纳(Tim Geithner)在会后表示:“我们实现的最重要成就是,各方就一个框架在未来遏制过度贸易失衡的框架达成了一致意见。”
4 M9 F- `3 l0 y2 B6 P4 ?! }) D But the statement issued by the ministers left unclear how the imbalances would be reduced. The communiqué also issued a clear warning to the US that loose monetary policy could continue to push volatile capital flows into emerging economies.
! x! A6 ~( f4 x 但是,从各国财长发布的声明看不出失衡将如何得到削减。会议公报还向美国发出了一个明确警告:宽松的货币政策,可能继续推动善变的资本洪流进入新兴经济体。
8 B9 ?' B) S+ t6 p) m5 h European nations agreed to surrender two of their seats on the IMF’s 24-member executive board to make way for emerging nations, who will also receive a greater share of “quotas”, which determine voting power. But the exact decisions on reorganising quotas was deferred until 2012.8 c5 o( R5 R9 a/ h4 X, h$ W( f' U
欧洲国家同意在24个席位的IMF执行董事会上,让出2个席位给新兴国家,这些新兴国家将得到更大份额的“配额”;这些配额决定投票权。但是,有关改组配额的具体决定,将推迟到2012年作出。: k% }" K) Z4 ?
3 y4 x$ \) k7 [' x1 e Christine Lagarde, France’s finance minister, agreed the shift to combating imbalances would offer a sense of purpose to the French presidency of the G20 next year. The US and South Korea had also sought to forge consensus on a numerical target for surpluses and deficits at this weekend’s meeting, suggesting a cap of 4 per cent of gross domestic product. But the idea of a specific target ran into stern opposition from Germany, Brazil and Japan. |