德法經濟第二季度意外反彈

The German and French economies unexpectedly bounced back in the second quarter, figures showed yesterday, raising hopes that the worst of the economic crisis is coming to an end in the eurozone.

昨天公布的數據顯示，德國和法國經濟在第二季度意外反彈，引發(fā)人們期望歐元區(qū)經濟危機最嚴重時期即將結束。

The region's two biggest economies, which had each suffered four consecutive quarters of negative growth, both grew 0.3 per cent in the three months to the end of June.

作為該地區(qū)最大的兩個經濟體，德法兩國此前均經歷了連續(xù)四個季度的負增長，但在截至6月份的三個月內，兩國經濟均增長了0.3%。

The figures confounded economists who had predicted contractions in each country again after German gross domestic product plummeted 3.5 per cent and French GDP shrank by 1.3 per cent in the first quarter.

一些經濟學家曾預測，繼一季度德國國內生產總值(GDP)下滑3.5%、法國下滑1.3%之后，兩國二季度GDP仍將負增長，但昨天的數據令他們困惑。

As a result, GDP in the 16-nation currency bloc fell only 0.1 per cent in the last quarter, the European statistics office said, cheering economists who had expected a decline of 0.5 per cent after a drop of 2.5 per cent in the previous quarter.

歐盟統計局表示，受德法兩國增長的推動，歐元區(qū)16國GDP在二季度整體僅下降0.1%，這一結果令經濟學家受到鼓舞，他們曾預測在一季度下滑2.5%之后，二季度歐元區(qū)經濟將縮水0.5%。

The better than expected performance echoed that of the US economy, which shrank only 0.3 per cent in the second quarter. But the UK saw its GDP shrink 0.8 per cent, prompting criticism of the government's handling of the economy.

這一優(yōu)于預期的經濟增長數據，呼應了美國的數據，后者的二季度GDP僅下滑0.3%。但英國GDP縮減了0.8%，引發(fā)人們批評政府對經濟的處理。

“The size of Britain's banking sector and the extent to which the government allowed debt and the housing bubble to grow left Britain particularly exposed,” said Vince Cable, treasury spokesman for the opposition Liberal Democrats.

“英國銀行業(yè)的規(guī)模，以及政府放任債務泡沫和房地產泡沫膨脹的程度，使得英國受危機的打擊尤其巨大，”英國自由民主黨(Liberal Democrats)財政事務發(fā)言人文斯·凱布爾(Vince Cable)說。

Erik Nielsen, chief economist for Europe at Goldman Sachs in London, said: “If you look at the US and Europe, pretty much everyone had a better second quarter than expected a few months ago – with the exception of the UK.”

高盛(Goldman Sachs)駐倫敦的歐洲首席經濟學家埃里克·尼爾森(Erik Nielsen)說：“如果你看看美國和歐洲，幾乎每個國家二季度的經濟都好于幾個月前的預期，只有英國例外。”

Greece and Portugal also grew 0.3 per cent in the second quarter, while the Austrian and Belgian economies shrank 0.4 per cent, Italy's 0.5 per cent and the Dutch economy by 0.9 per cent.

希臘和葡萄牙二季度GDP也增長了0.3%，而奧地利和比利時經濟同期下滑了0.4%，意大利下滑0.5%，荷蘭下滑0.9%。

Eastern EU countries outside the eurozone again saw recession deepen.

在東歐，歐元區(qū)以外的歐盟成員國二季度經濟衰退進一步加劇。

Many economists said they expected the eurozone to swing back to growth in the third quarter, although they also warned that rising unemployment, fragile bank lending and the looming end to stimulus spending made for pitfalls.

許多經濟學家表示，他們預計歐元區(qū)經濟在三季度將恢復正增長。但他們也警告，失業(yè)率不斷攀升、銀行放貸力度疲軟，以及經濟刺激支出行將結束，都是隱藏的風險。

譯者/功文