德國(guó)財(cái)長(zhǎng)：歐元的確被低估，但不應(yīng)怪德國(guó)

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(guó)財(cái)長(zhǎng)沃爾夫?qū)?bull;朔伊布勒(Wolfgang Schäuble)指責(zé)歐洲央行(ECB)造成了歐元匯率對(duì)德國(guó)來(lái)說(shuō)“太低”。上周美國(guó)總統(tǒng)唐納德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的最高貿(mào)易顧問(wèn)批評(píng)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(bào)紙采訪時(shí)承認(rèn)，歐洲央行必須為整個(gè)歐元區(qū)制定貨幣政策，但表示：“這對(duì)德國(guó)來(lái)說(shuō)過(guò)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(yán)格來(lái)說(shuō)，相對(duì)于德國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)地位，歐元匯率太低，”他對(duì)德國(guó)《每日鏡報(bào)》(Tagesspiegel)表示。“當(dāng)歐洲央行行長(zhǎng)馬里奧•德拉吉(Mario Draghi)開(kāi)啟擴(kuò)張性貨幣政策時(shí)，我告訴他，他將推高德國(guó)的出口順差……那時(shí)我承諾不公開(kāi)批評(píng)這一(政策)路線。但話說(shuō)回來(lái)，我不想因?yàn)檫@種政策的后果而受到批評(píng)。”

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(shè)立的國(guó)家貿(mào)易委員會(huì)(National Trade Council)的主席彼得•納瓦羅(Peter Navarro)上周對(duì)英國(guó)《金融時(shí)報(bào)》表示，德國(guó)利用“嚴(yán)重低估”的歐元獲得巨額貿(mào)易順差，占美國(guó)以及德國(guó)的歐盟伙伴的便宜。此言似乎把德國(guó)列入特朗普政府所稱的匯率操縱國(guó)之列，這些國(guó)家被指為了獲得競(jìng)爭(zhēng)優(yōu)勢(shì)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(guó)無(wú)法制定匯率政策，他把歐元相對(duì)于美元的弱勢(shì)歸咎于歐洲央行。對(duì)于幫助壓低了單一貨幣的歐洲央行量化寬松政策，德國(guó)財(cái)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(guó)Ifo經(jīng)濟(jì)研究所(Ifo Institute)的數(shù)據(jù)，德國(guó)去年的貿(mào)易順差達(dá)到近3000億美元，這是全球最大的貿(mào)易順差，高出中國(guó)逾500億美元。布魯塞爾和華盛頓的批評(píng)者都呼吁德國(guó)調(diào)整其財(cái)政政策，刺激內(nèi)需以增加進(jìn)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(guó)的工具，并且稱北約(NATO)過(guò)時(shí)，貶低了這個(gè)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(bào)》采訪時(shí)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(guó))”，為什么一個(gè)美國(guó)總統(tǒng)想要在歐洲制造分裂?他補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，他不相信特朗普正在認(rèn)真地試圖分裂歐洲，但他正在大量“試驗(yàn)”。

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(píng)論是其對(duì)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(cái)長(zhǎng)指責(zé)德拉吉對(duì)民粹主義右翼政黨德國(guó)新選擇黨(Alternative für Deutschland，簡(jiǎn)稱AfD)的成功負(fù)有“50%”責(zé)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(guó)總理安格拉•默克爾(Angela Merkel)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)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(dān)憂，除了利用難民危機(jī)獲利以外，對(duì)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(tuán)的德國(guó)新選擇黨，正在贏得對(duì)歐元穩(wěn)定性以及儲(chǔ)蓄低利率感到擔(dān)心的選民的支持。