Aug 8th 2011, 16:16 by P.W. | LONDON
ONCE again, as the euro area appeared to teeter at the edge of an abyss, a sharp tug from the central bank has restored a margin of safety, albeit a slim one. In May 2010, as markets were panicking about Greece, it was the decision by the European Central Bank (ECB) based in Frankfurt to start buying Greek government bonds in the markets that calmed nerves as much as the euro-area governments’ decision to create a new bail-out fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). This week, the ECB has pulled off the same trick by deciding to purchase Italian and Spanish government bonds at an emergency weekend conference-call meeting of its 23-strong governing council.
The move was prompted by market pressures building on the much bigger economies of Italy and Spain, as yields on their debt threatened to reach unsustainably high levels. The jitters were all the more remarkable given that an emergency summit of European leaders on July 21st to agree upon a second rescue for Greece had also sought to reduce the risk of sovereign-debt worries spreading to other vulnerable countries by expanding the role of the EFSF, allowing it to intervene in secondary markets as well as to extend lines of credit to such economies.
teeter vi. 1. 蹒跚,摇晃;站不稳;动摇 2. 【美】玩跷跷板 n. 1. 跷跷板
abyss n. 1. 深渊;深坑;
tug vt. 1. 用力拉(或拖) 2. 用拖船拖(或顶) 3. 用飞机拖(滑翔机) vi. 1. 用力拉(或拖)[(+at)] 2. 竞争 3. 努力做,奋斗 n. 1. 猛拉;强大的拉力 2. 牵引,拖曳 3. 竞争 4. 苦干;辛苦
albeit conj. 1. 【书】尽管,虽然
bail-out n. 1. 跳伞 2. 以优先股发给股东作为红利之行为
jitters n. 1. 神经过敏 vt. 1. 神经过敏地说出
summit n. 1. (山等)尖峰,峰顶[(+of)] 2. 【喻】顶峰,绝顶[the S][(+of)] 3. 最高官阶...a. 1. 最高级的,ZF首脑间
intervene vi. 1. 插进;介入;介于中间[(+between)] 2. 干涉,干预;调停[(in/between)
remit vt. 1. 宽恕;赦免 2. 豁免(捐税等),免除(处罚) 3. 缓和;减轻,减退;使松懈 4. ...vi. 1. 缓和;减轻 2. 汇款
ratify vt. 1. (正式)批准;认可
parliament n. 1. 议会,国会 2. (大写)(英国,加拿大等的)国会 3. 一届议会
boost n. 1. 一举,一抬;一推 2. 推动;帮助;促进 3. 提高;增加 vt. 1. 举,抬;推 2. 推动;促进;为...作宣传 3. 提高;增加
The summary of this article: the ECB is a reluctant rescuer. Indeed until this month it had not made any bond purchases since March, leaving their total book value around
Trichet interventions had not made like this in the markets during the past week, despite renewed tensions over the spread of the debt crisis in Italy. Specifically, the ECB had not acquired sovereign bond markets since late March , linking fifteen consecutive weeks without buying government debt.
There are two ways to calm the euro markets, one is measures from the ECB, and the other is to create EFSF.
EFSF, a bailout fund, won’t be ratified until this autumn when leaders come back from their summer holidays and parliaments are recalled. Moreover, the size of the fund is limited to $620 billion, not enough to deal with Italy, let alone Italy and Spain.In contrast, the ECB can act now. It decided to purchase Italian and Spanish government bonds, which resulted in a sharp fall in yields as markets opened on August 8th. But the real action has not yet started and even its purchase of Irish and Portuguese bonds was opposed by some members of the governing council. ECB’s move was reactive rather than pre-emptive and followed immense pressure from political leaders. Its reluctance came from the big losses incurred by Greek bond purchases and the credibility brought about by its entanglement into fiscal rather than monetary territory, which leaves the bond-buying rescue no more than containing the latest outbreak nerves.
To pass the sovereign-debt crisis, it is necessary for Europe to build a much more secure fiscal underpinning to its shaky monetary union and to win support from voters in the creditor countries.
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