德國財長：歐元的確被低估，但不應怪德國

German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble has blamed the European Central Bank for an exchange rate that is “too low” for Germany, following criticism last week from US president Donald Trump’s top trade adviser.

德國財長沃爾夫?qū)?bull;朔伊布勒(Wolfgang Schäuble)指責歐洲央行(ECB)造成了歐元匯率對德國來說“太低”。上周美國總統(tǒng)唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的最高貿(mào)易顧問批評歐元低估。

Mr Schäuble acknowledged in a newspaper interview that the ECB had to set monetary policy for the eurozone as a whole, but said: “It is too loose for Germany.”

朔伊布勒在接受報紙采訪時承認，歐洲央行必須為整個歐元區(qū)制定貨幣政策，但表示：“這對德國來說過于寬松了。”

“The euro exchange rate is, strictly speaking, too low for the German economy’s competitive position,” he told Tagesspiegel. “When ECB chief Mario Draghi embarked on the expansive monetary policy, I told him he would drive up Germany’s export surplus . . . I promised then not to publicly criticise this [policy] course. But then I don’t want to be criticised for the consequences of this policy.”

“嚴格來說，相對于德國經(jīng)濟的競爭地位，歐元匯率太低，”他對德國《每日鏡報》(Tagesspiegel)表示。“當歐洲央行行長馬里奧•德拉吉(Mario Draghi)開啟擴張性貨幣政策時，我告訴他，他將推高德國的出口順差……那時我承諾不公開批評這一(政策)路線。但話說回來，我不想因為這種政策的后果而受到批評。”

Peter Navarro, the head of Mr Trump’s new National Trade Council, last week told the FT that Germany was exploiting the US and its EU partners by using a “grossly undervalued” euro to create a vast trade surplus. The comments appeared to place Germany in a category of countries that the Trump administration has accused of currency manipulation for competitive advantage.

特朗普新設立的國家貿(mào)易委員會(National Trade Council)的主席彼得•納瓦羅(Peter Navarro)上周對英國《金融時報》表示，德國利用“嚴重低估”的歐元獲得巨額貿(mào)易順差，占美國以及德國的歐盟伙伴的便宜。此言似乎把德國列入特朗普政府所稱的匯率操縱國之列，這些國家被指為了獲得競爭優(yōu)勢而壓低本幣匯率。

Mr Schäuble pointed out that Germany was not able to set exchange rate policy and pinned responsibility for the euro’s weakness against the dollar on the ECB. The German finance ministry was “not an ardent fan” of the ECB’s policy of quantitative easing that had helped to weaken the single currency.

朔伊布勒指出德國無法制定匯率政策，他把歐元相對于美元的弱勢歸咎于歐洲央行。對于幫助壓低了單一貨幣的歐洲央行量化寬松政策，德國財政部“不是熱心粉絲”。

According to the Ifo Institute, Germany recorded a trade surplus of nearly $300bn last year, outpacing China by more than $50bn to hold the world’s largest trade surplus. Critics in Brussels and Washington have called for Germany to reframe its fiscal policy and stimulate domestic demand to increase imports.

根據(jù)德國Ifo經(jīng)濟研究所(Ifo Institute)的數(shù)據(jù)，德國去年的貿(mào)易順差達到近3000億美元，這是全球最大的貿(mào)易順差，高出中國逾500億美元。布魯塞爾和華盛頓的批評者都呼吁德國調(diào)整其財政政策，刺激內(nèi)需以增加進口。

Last month, Mr Trump called the EU a vehicle for Germany and undermined Nato by calling it obsolete.

上月，特朗普把歐盟稱為德國的工具，并且稱北約(NATO)過時，貶低了這個軍事聯(lián)盟。

In his newspaper interview, Mr Schäuble questioned why a US president would want to divide Europe given that the continent “is closer to them than anybody else in the world”. He added he did not believe that Mr Trump was seriously trying to split up Europe, but he was “testing” a lot.

朔伊布勒在接受《鏡報》采訪時質(zhì)疑，鑒于歐洲大陸“比世界上其他任何人都更接近他們(美國)”，為什么一個美國總統(tǒng)想要在歐洲制造分裂?他補充說，他不相信特朗普正在認真地試圖分裂歐洲，但他正在大量“試驗”。

Mr Schäuble’s comments on monetary policy are the latest in a series of attacks on the ECB’s easy money policies. Last year, the hawkish finance minister blamed Mr Draghi for “50 per cent” of the success of the populist rightwing Alternative for Germany party.

朔伊布勒的貨幣政策評論是其對歐洲央行寬松貨幣政策的一系列抨擊的最新一例。去年，這位鷹派財長指責德拉吉對民粹主義右翼政黨德國新選擇黨(Alternative für Deutschland，簡稱AfD)的成功負有“50%”責任。

Mr Schäuble and others on the conservative wing of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling CDU/CSU bloc are concerned that as well as profiting from the refugee crisis, the Eurosceptic AfD, which wants an end to the common currency bloc in its present form, is winning support from voters worried about the euro’s stability and the low interest on their savings.

在德國總理安格拉•默克爾(Angela Merkel)領導的基民盟/基社盟(CDU/CSU)執(zhí)政聯(lián)盟中，朔伊布勒和其他保守派人士擔憂，除了利用難民危機獲利以外，對歐洲一體化持懷疑態(tài)度、希望終結(jié)目前形式的共同貨幣集團的德國新選擇黨，正在贏得對歐元穩(wěn)定性以及儲蓄低利率感到擔心的選民的支持。