BARCELONA, Spain — The central government of Spain has moved to shore up the finances of the country’s 17 regional governments — some of which are having trouble paying their bills — while taking steps to tighten control over their spending.
巴塞罗那，西班牙——西班牙的中央政府亟待支撑全国17个地方政府的财政——有些地方政府陷于支付账单的麻烦——同时采取措施以加强控制他们的开支。
Budget Minister Cristóbal Montoro said Tuesday that the government would create a credit line and advance about $10 billion to the regions, money they were not scheduled to get until later in the year.
星期二预算部长克里斯托瓦·蒙托罗说政府会创造一条贷款通道和预付大约10亿美元给地方政府，直到今年晚些时候他们才如期拿到钱。
The regions need the cash to pay suppliers, many of which are small businesses that have not been paid in months, even years, and are struggling to stay afloat.
地方政府需要现金支付供应商，许多供应商是小型企业，已经有几个月甚至数年没有支付，都在力求生存。
But at the same time, Mr. Montoro said that Madrid would also seek new legislation to set penalties for regions that failed to comply with strict budget targets.
但与此同时，蒙托罗先生说马德里也会寻求新的立法为未能遵守严格的预算指标的地方政府规定惩罚。
“I have no qualms about helping them, but neither do I have any qualms about being more demanding of them,” Mr. Montoro said after his first meeting with all the regional economic ministers.
“我毫不迟疑的帮助他们，但我也必然的对他们要求更高，”蒙托罗先生与各地方经济部长第一次会议后说。
Spain’s highly autonomous regions have spent recklessly in recent years — on generous public services and expensive capital projects, some of which look ridiculous in hindsight. Two regions, for instance, have built large airports, though virtually no one uses them.
西班牙的高度自治的地方政府近年来不顾后果的耗费在慷慨的公共服务和昂贵的资本项目上，有些事后看来荒谬可笑。两个地方政府，比如说，修建成大型机场，尽管几乎没人使用。
And the regions’ failure to pay their creditors is now endangering many small enterprises, which are the backbone of the Spanish economy, already suffering from more than 22 percent unemployment, the highest in Europe.
地方政府未能支付其债权人目前危机许多小企业，而小企业是西班牙经济的支柱，失业率已经超过22%，在欧洲国家中是最高的。
Despite pressure from Madrid to rein in their budgets, many regions failed to meet their budget goals this year — a huge factor in Spain’s failure to meet its targets.
尽管马德里迫使他们控制预算，许多地方政府今年未能达到预算目标——西班牙未能实现目标的一个重大因素。
Just a few weeks ago, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced a new $19.3 billion package of tax increases and budget cuts — intended to offset the impact of the unexpected jump in the 2011 public deficit to 8 percent from the 6 percent originally forecast.
就在几个星期前，总理马里亚诺·拉霍伊宣布一个新的19.3亿美元增加税收和削减预算的一揽子计划——旨在弥补2011年公共赤字从原先预测的6%至8%意外跳升的影响。
Mr. Rajoy, who took office in December, quickly identified the regional government spending as a major problem that has to be dealt with. But he seemed to strike a more conciliatory tone this week as the government moved to help regions.
拉霍伊先生于12月上任，很快确定地方政府的开支作为一个重大问题必须处理。但本周当西班牙政府帮助地方政府时，他似乎采取一种更为温和的语气。
“We are all the state, and the Spanish government cannot remove itself from what is happening to the regional governments,” Mr. Rajoy said Tuesday, adding that he would not allow any regional government to go bankrupt as long as it met its budget goals.
“我们都是政府，西班牙政府无法从地方政府所发生的事情本身抹去，”拉霍伊先生星期二说，并且补充他不会允许任何地方政府破产，只要它达到预算目标。
Markets seemed to react positively to Mr. Rajoy’s new measures.
市场似乎对拉霍伊先生的新措施作出积极的反应。
Spain was able to sell $8.5 billion in bonds on Thursday — more than expected, and at a better price. The sale suggested that markets had shrugged off the country’s downgrade last week by Standard & Poor’s.
星期四西班牙能够出售8.5亿美元的债券——超出预期，并且以一个更好的价钱。销售部提出市场应该摆脱上周该国的标准普尔降级。
Yields that the country pays on 10-year bonds fell to 5.4 percent on Thursday, down from a high of 7 percent in November.
星期四该国支付10年期债券的收益率从11月7%的高点下跌至5.4%。
Spain’s system of autonomous regions was developed in the aftermath of the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. After years of repression, regions pressed successfully for as much freedom as possible.
西班牙自治区的体制在弗朗西斯科·佛朗哥独裁统治的后遗症中发展的。经过多年的镇压，地方政府为尽可能自由成功压迫。
They are generally in charge of administering schools, universities, health and social services, culture, development and, in some cases, policing. And the central government has until now had little ability to interfere.
他们通常负责管理学校，高校，卫生和社会服务，文化，发展还有在某些情况下，治安。
But in recent years, the regions have been faced with some intractable problems. Education and health care have been particularly problematic, because those costs have been growing. At the same time, some main sources of financing — taxes on real estate sales and building permit fees — have dried up with the collapse of the housing boom.
但是近年来，地方政府面临一些棘手的难题。教育和医疗保健方面的问题尤其严重，因为那些费用不断增长。与此同时，一些主要的融资来源——房地产销售税和建筑许可证费—随着房地产市场繁荣的崩溃而干涸。
For that reason, some regions may actually want the central government to take back some responsibilities, as was suggested in July by officials from the regions of Murcia, Valencia and Aragón.
基于这个原因，一些地方政府可能实际上希望中央政府撤回一些责任，正如穆尔西亚，瓦伦西亚和阿拉贡的地方政府官员于7月提议的那样。
from 译言-每日精品译文推荐 http://article.yeeyan.org/view/221669/248618
