新聞英語-Greece bailout talks collapsed

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Kooper
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註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

新聞英語-Greece bailout talks collapsed

文章 Kooper »

Greece bailout: Varoufakis 'willing' as talks collapse
Greece's Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis declared he was ready to do "whatever it takes" to reach agreement over its bailout after the collapse of talks with EU finance ministers. Mr Varoufakis spoke after Greece rejected an EU offer to extend its current €240bn (£178bn) bailout, a plan he called "absurd" and "unacceptable". He said he was prepared to agree a deal but under different conditions.But the Dutch finance minister said there were just days left for talks.

Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs the Eurogroup of finance ministers, said it was now "up to Greece" to decide if it wanted more funding or not. "My strong preference is and still is to get an extension of the programme, and I think it is still feasible," Mr Dijsselbloem told a news conference after the talks collapsed.

Greece's current bailout expires on 28 February. Any new agreement would need to be approved by national governments, so time is running out to reach a compromise. Without a deal Greece is likely to run out of money. Mr Varoufakis said there was still "substantial disagreement" on whether the task ahead was to complete the current programme, which Greece's newly elected government has pledged to scrap. He dismissed the promise of "some flexibility" in the programme as "nebulous" and lacking in detail. Speaking at a news conference after Mr Dijsselbloem, he said he had been presented with a draft communique by Pierre Moscovici, the EU's economics commissioner, which he had been ready to sign. However, that draft had been withdrawn minutes before the meeting started, Mr Varoufakis said. But he sought to play down the setback as a temporary hitch. "Europe will do the usual trick: It will pull a good agreement or an honourable agreement out of what seems to be an impasse.'"

Analysis: Andrew Walker, BBC economics correspondent:
Two pressing financial issues loom over Greece: whether the government can pay its bills and the stability of the banks. Greek officials have said the government could keep going for several months, but there are doubts. How long it takes depends to a great extent on Greek taxpayers. The banks have already seen money being withdrawn and increasingly need central bank loans. If there is no bailout programme, the European Central Bank could pull the plug on the banks. If it came to that, it really would mean a major financial crisis, with perhaps the imposition of extensive financial controls to prop up the banks and possibly even the re-introduction of a national currency.

It's hard to nail down a date by which an agreement must be done to avert some sort of financial Armageddon, because it depends on the actions of taxpayers, bank customers and the ECB. But time is getting short. Before the meeting, German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had already said he was not optimistic a deal would be reached. The German finance minister insists that Greece needs to meet its pre-existing obligations. "The problem is that Greece has lived beyond its means for a long time and that nobody wants to give Greece money any more without guarantees," he said. But French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said European leaders needed to respect the political change in Athens. As he arrived in Brussels he urged the Greeks to extend their current deal to allow time for talks.

Greece has proposed a new bailout programme that involves a bridging loan to keep the country going for six months and help it repay €7bn (£5.2bn) of maturing bonds.
The second part of the plan would see the county's debt refinanced. Part of this might be through "GDP bonds" - bonds carrying an interest rate linked to economic growth.
Greece also wants to see a reduction in the primary surplus target - the surplus the government must generate (excluding interest payments on debt) - from 3% to 1.49% of GDP. In Greece last week, two opinion polls indicated that 79% of Greeks supported the government's policies, and 74% believed its negotiating strategy would succeed.

source: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-314850 ... ws_central
Kooper
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Re: 新聞英語-Greece bailout talks collapsed

文章 Kooper »

How to say 談判破裂? Here is one example:
- The talks collapsed yesterday.
- the collapse of talks with EU finance ministers

funding: money giving by a government or organization for an event or activity

批評某人的計畫或承諾太過空泛:
- you may describe it as nebulous and lacking in detail
- 動詞可用 dismiss ... as ...
nebulousa [a] (especially of ideas) not developed or clear enough [=vague]

對某個挫敗挫折輕描淡寫:
play down the setback as a temporary hitch
play down sth: to try to make a problem or difficult situation seem less important or less bad than it really is
hitch: a problem that is not very serious (= hiccup)

"緊急的"除了用urgent還能用甚麼字? --> pressing
Two pressing financial issues loom over Greece
a pressing problem or need is urgent and needs to be dealt with immediately

If there is no bailout programme, the European Central Bank could pull the plug on the banks.
pull the plug on sth: to prevent a plan, business etc from being able to continue, especially by deciding not to give it any more money

to pull the plug on the banks 的相反: to prop up the banks
prop up sth: to help the government, system, organization, etc. to continue to exist, especially by providing financial or military support

"時間不夠了"在本文出現三種表達方式:
- There were just days left (for talks)
- Time is running out (to reach a compromise)
- Time is getting short

"入不敷出"怎麼說? to live beyond one's means
live beyond one's means: to have a way of life in which you spend more money than you earn
-> 相反就是 live within one's means
-> 轉的錢僅夠餬口: make ends meet
Michael-liu
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註冊時間: 週五 4月 24, 2009 6:09 pm

Re: 新聞英語-Greece bailout talks collapsed

文章 Michael-liu »

Kooper好認真呀!You are our role model
Iris Wu
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註冊時間: 週二 5月 20, 2014 4:33 pm

Re: 新聞英語-Greece bailout talks collapsed

文章 Iris Wu »

Right, I can't agree more. And most important is that we should put some actions to show we actually learn from our role model. It is a great way to share what we learned. Thanks, Kooper, you inspire us to utilize our forum more effectively. I hope after the busy holidays, more members share their thoughts or whatever learned in this platform.
最後由 Iris Wu 於 週三 2月 25, 2015 8:24 pm 編輯,總共編輯了 1 次。
Tina Sun
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註冊時間: 週三 10月 02, 2013 3:23 pm

Re: 新聞英語-Greece bailout talks collapsed

文章 Tina Sun »

圖檔

Thank you, Kooper!!!!! Lessons learned!!!!
Kooper
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註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: 新聞英語-Greece bailout talks collapsed

文章 Kooper »

Thank you guys and gals. I am just using the forum like it is my personal English learning blog. Luckily no one has been bored to death by my posts. You are all very kind and tolerant. :ssmile:
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Rock
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註冊時間: 週三 10月 31, 2007 9:03 am

Re: 新聞英語-Greece bailout talks collapsed

文章 Rock »

If you keep on doing it, you'll be able to publish a book in the future. Then you can retire early. May I suggest the name of the book? How about "Kooper the Yoyo English Blogger"?
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