希臘向IMF償還7.5億歐元貸款
Greece’s finance ministry ordered a 750m payment to the International Monetary Fund, ending days of uncertainty over whether Athens would use the instalment as a bargaining chip in talks with its creditors.
希臘財政部下令向國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)償還7.5億歐元貸款，結束了過去幾天圍繞雅典方面是否會利用這筆還款作爲與債權人談判籌碼的不確定性。Ministry officials said they had sent a payment order to the government’s national accounts office to ensure it would arrive in the IMF’s coffers by today, when the loan repayment falls due.
財政部官員稱，他們已經向希臘政府的國民經濟覈算辦公室下達支付令，以確保這筆還款不晚於今天（貸款償還到期的時間）到達IMF的手中。
Some members of the governing hard-left Syriza party had pushed ministers to withhold the payment until eurozone finance ministers meeting in Brussels agreed to endorse progress made by bailout negotiators in recent days.
執政黨激進左翼聯盟(Syriza)的一些成員一直向各部長施壓，要求其暫不償還貸款，直到在布魯塞爾召開會議的歐元區各財長同意支持最近幾天紓困計劃談判代表取得的進展。
Athens has lobbied furiously for such a statement, which officials believe would allow the European Central Bank to lift the ceiling on its issuance of short-term debt. That would provide more breathing room for the cash-strapped state.
雅典方面一直大力遊說歐元區各財長髮布一份希臘官員認爲將允許歐洲央行(ECB)提高希臘發行短期債務上限的聲明。這將使這個陷入資金短缺的國家獲得更多喘息之機。But according to officials involved in the Brussels meeting, Yanis Varoufakis, the Greek finance minister, confirmed Athens would make the payment during the hour-long session.
但是，據參與布魯塞爾會談的官員表示，希臘財長亞尼斯•瓦魯法基斯(Yanis Varoufakis)在時長1小時的會議中確認，雅典方面將償還貸款。Ministers had only a perfunctory debate over the Greek programme, and issued a statement that was far more lukewarm than Athens had hoped — welcoming the improved atmosphere in the talks but warning “more time and effort are needed to bridge the gaps”.
歐元區各財長只是就希臘計劃進行了敷衍討論，並發表了比雅典所希望的要冷淡得多的聲明——對談判中改進的氛圍表示歡迎，但警告稱“彌合鴻溝需要更多的時間和努力”。Such language is not expected to give the ECB the leeway it would need to lift its restrictions on Athens’ ability to sell treasury bills, which are almost exclusively purchased by Greek banks.
這種措辭預計不會給歐洲央行留有提高希臘發行短期國債上限的餘地。這些國債幾乎都賣給了希臘的銀行。
