Europe Races to Widen Aid for Greece

European finance officials met late Wednesday in Vienna to prepare a fresh
aid package for Greece, people close to the matter said, but the talks must
first bridge a crucial gap between Germany and the European Central Bank
over whether private investors should share the pain of propping up the
indebted nation.

Plucked from the brink of default in May 2010 by other euro-zone countries
and the International Monetary Fund, Greece is again verging on a critical
cash shortage.

Officials have conceded that Greece—already the beneficiary of €110 billion
($158 billion) in promised rescue aid—will need roughly another €30 billion
in each of 2012 and 2013.

They are racing to figure out a plan before a key meeting of finance
ministers later this month.

At least some of the money will have to come by way of a further bailout
from taxpayers in Europe's stronger countries—chief among them Germany. But
at the Vienna meeting on Wednesday, officials from the German finance
ministry pressed for Greece's bondholders to bear some of the burden by
accepting late repayment of their investments, said a person familiar with
the matter. That "reprofiling" of Greek bonds is anathema to the ECB.

For the time being, the standoff continues—although a senior German official
said this week that Germany may ultimately have to relax its insistence that
extending bond maturities should be part of the package now under discussion
and to be agreed to by late June. Berlin has no serious alternative to
lending Greece more money to avoid default, the official said, but a debt
reprofiling probably can't be agreed on in such a short time. Berlin has
made no final decision, however.

But many private analysts say the euro zone's squabble over what to do now
misses a broader point: Greece, they say, is highly unlikely to ever pay all
its debts back—no matter if they are delayed for a few years or not.

"A debt reprofiling is not enough," said Rodrigo Olivares-Caminal, a senior
lecturer in financial law at the University of London and a visiting
professor at a Greek business school. "That was an option in 2009, early
2010, but not in 2011."

The European Union's solution—to provide Greece with money in order to calm
markets enough that the country could go back to them for financing—hasn't
worked. Greek bond spreads, a measure of investors' reluctance to lend, are
far higher than they were last year. And, between the end of 2009 and the
end of 2011, Greece will have added €50 billion in debt.

"They are trying to put out fire with gasoline," said Mr. Olivares-Caminal.

Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday downgraded Greece even
deeper into junk-bond territory, to Caa1, a level that implies a 50% chance
of default over the next five years. That is the lowest of any of the main
rating agencies—and Moody's said the outlook for the rating remained
negative, suggesting further downgrades are possible.

Mr. Olivares-Caminal and others advocate forcibly reducing Greece's debt by
telling creditors they will only receive part of their money back. European
governments have made clear they aren't ready to consider that option.

For Germany and most other countries, an extension of maturities is as far
as they will go at the moment.

Germany has for weeks argued that Greek bondholders should be persuaded to
accept a delay in bond maturities, as a way to reduce Greece's funding needs
in coming years. The central bank argues that even such a voluntary
agreement would amount to default by Greece and could trigger severe capital
flight from other indebted euro-zone countries.

ECB officials also argue that a default in any form would render Greek bonds
ineligible as collateral for ECB loans to banks, threatening the Greek
banking system with insolvency.

ECB officials have indicated that they are open only to a loose form of
private-sector involvement: a gentleman's agreement by European banks to
maintain their current level of lending to Greece's government, by buying
new bonds when current bonds mature.

Supporters of this option point to the success of a similar agreement in
2009, known as the Vienna Initiative, when some major European banks agreed
to keep lending to Eastern European countries during the global financial
crisis.

In a speech in New York on Wednesday, Olli Rehn, the EU's economy
commissioner, said European authorities would push for a Vienna-style
agreement.

But Greece isn't Eastern Europe. Hungary and the other countries concerned
weren't considered to be seriously threatened by insolvency. Most investors
think Greece is. Persuading banks to buy new Greek bonds, at an interest
rate Greece can afford, could be a tall order, economists said.

What is more, German officials said a gentleman's agreement mimicking the
Vienna Initiative would be harmless but insufficient. Berlin tried to secure
pledges from Germany's major banks in May 2010 to keep lending to Greece,
but the nonbinding accord did little or nothing to ease Greece's funding
problems. "We already tried a Vienna-style agreement. It didn't work," said
a German official.

Meanwhile, the options for Greece are narrowing. Under the €110 billion
package agreed to last year, aid from the EU and the IMF is distributed in
quarterly tranches; each quarter, a team of technocrats must review Greece's
progress, and the next tranche of €12 billion is due to be disbursed this
month. By policy, the IMF won't release its share of the money unless it is
assured that Greece has financing for the next 12 months. That is a problem
since the bailout package assumes Greece will be able to begin borrowing on
its own from long-term debt markets early next year. Few people think that
is realistic.

In return for additional aid, Berlin and other capitals are demanding that
Greece do more to cut its own budget deficit and to sell state assets. Both
of those measures would ease the amount of additional aid Greece would
require.

An ambitious, €50 billion program of state asset sales is already in the
works, and European officials are pushing for new cuts in spending and
higher tax collection. Greece's government has proposed €1.6 billion worth
of savings for the rest of this year, on top of €4.8 billion already
planned. For 2012-2015, Greece is proposing a total of €22 billion in
deficit reduction.

A large chunk will be deep cuts to state spending, which are intended to
take government expenditures down to the equivalent of 44.1% of gross
domestic product in 2015 from 49.6% last year.

Perhaps more challenging will be raising revenue, which Greece plans to get
from 39.1% of GDP in 2010 to 43.1% in 2015.

It has been difficult in the past. In spring 2010, Greece projected it could
show revenue after tax refunds in its "ordinary" state budget of €55.1
billion in 2010, up from €48.5 billion in 2009. It managed only €51.1
billion. (The ordinary budget figures count most of the central government
but exclude social-security funds and local government.)

Greece made up the difference in part with deeper spending cuts. But the
government's reduced spending has eaten into the economy and Greece's
recession has been deeper than expected. That, in turn, makes tax collection
yet harder. Even if Europe finds a solution that carries Greece through 2012
and 2013, its troubles won't end there. The country's massive debt load will
require heavy interest payments for years to come, and big chunks of
long-term bonds will come due: more than €25 billion in 2014 and more than
€17 billion in 2015. If Greece isn't able to persuade financial markets to
lend to it by then, Europe will be faced again with giving more aid.

■単語
crucial

[形]

1 （…にとって）決定的な；きわめて重大［重要］な((to, for ...))

a crucial issue to the world peace
世界平和を決する問題

a crucial decision
最終決定.

2 ((俗))すごい，すてきな.

3 〈時期・問題などが〉きびしい，むずかしい；苦しい

a crucial experience
つらい経験.

4 ((古))十字形の.

［ラテン語crux（十字架）＋-AL＝十字架の→きびしい. △CROSS］

indebted

[形]

1 （…に対して）（人に）恩義がある，恩恵を受けている((for ...；to ...))

I'm greatly [deeply] indebted to you for your help during my illness
あなたには病気のとき助けてもらった大きな［深い］恩義がある.

2 （人に）（…の額の）借金がある((to ...；for ...))

I'm indebted to you for 10,000 yen.
あなたに1万円の借りがある（▼I'm in debt to you for 10,000 yen. のほうがふつう）.

propping
支持法
proppingの文法情報
「propping」は動詞「prop」の現在分詞です

prop１
音節prop１ 発音記号/prάp｜prˈɔp/音声を聞く
【名詞】【可算名詞】
1支柱，つっぱり，つっかい棒.
2支え，頼り; 支持者.
3【ラグビー】 プロップ 《スクラム最前列の左右のフォワード》.
【動詞】 【他動詞】
(propped; prop・ping)
1a〔…で〕〈…を〉(倒れないように)支える，〈…に〉つっかい棒をする
〈up〉〔with，by〕.
用例
prop (up) a tree (with a pole) 木に(ポールで)つっかい棒をする.
b〔+目+補(+with+(代)名)〕〔…で〕〈…に〉〈…の状態に〉つっかい棒をする.
用例
I propped the door open with the chair. いすをつっかいにしてドアを開けておいた.
2〈人・ものを〉支持する，支援する 〈up〉.
用例
prop up old‐fashioned agriculture 旧式な農業にてこ入れをする.
3〈…を〉〔…に〕立てかける，寄りかからせる 〈up〉〔against〕.
用例
He propped his bicycle (up) against the wall. 彼は自転車を壁に立てかけた.
prop２
音節prop２ 発音記号/prάp｜prˈɔp/
【名詞】【可算名詞】
《口語》 プロペラ.
［PROPELLER の短縮形］
prop３
音節prop３ 発音記号/prάp｜prˈɔp/
【名詞】【可算名詞】
[通例複数形で] 【演劇】 小道具.
［PROPERTY の短縮形］

pluck

[動](他)

1 …の羽毛［髪］を引き抜く；〈羽毛などを〉（…から）むしり取る((off, from
...))；〈雑草を〉引き抜く((up))；((文))〈果実などを〉摘む；もぐ；［pluck A B／pluck B for A］〈Ａ（人）にＢ（花など）を〉摘んでやる

pluck a bird
鳥の毛をむしる

pluck grapes
ブドウを摘む

pluck feathers from a bird
鳥の毛をむしる

He plucked her a lily [=a lily for her].
彼女にユリの花を摘んであげた.

2 …を引っ張る，つかむ(grasp)；((古))…を（…から）むりに［ぐいっと］引き離す［ひったくる，動かす］((away, out/off, from ...))

pluck one's mother's skirt [=pluck one's mother by the skirt]
母親のスカートを引っ張る

pluck the cloth off a table
食卓からテーブル掛けを引きはがす.

3 〈人を〉危険［困難］な状況から救い出す.

4 ((俗))…から物［金銭］などを強奪する，巻き上げる，だまし取る.

5 〈魚が〉〈えさを〉食う.

6 〈楽器の弦を〉はじく，かき鳴らす.

7 …を（…から）選び出す((from ...))

Four new names were plucked from the waiting list.
順番待ちリストから4つの新しい名前が選び出された.

8 ((英古))…を試験ではねる，落第させる.

━━(自)［pluck at A］〈Ａ（物）を〉ぐいっと引っ張る；〈Ａ（人）に〉つかみかかる；〈Ａ（楽器の弦）を〉はじく.

pluck up

(自)元気を出す，奮起する.

━━(他)

［pluck ... up／pluck up ...］

(1)…を根こそぎにする，根絶する.

(2)〈元気・勇気などを〉奮い起こす，出す.

━━[名]

1 引き抜く［もぎ取る］こと，ぐいっと引っ張ること

give a pluck at ...
…をぐいっと引っ張る.

2 [U]((古風))勇気，決断.

3 [U]（牛などの）臓物，もつ.

4 ((古))落第.

［古英語pluccian. △ドイツ語pflcken］

brink

[名]

1 ((文))（がけの）縁，端，へり

the brink of a cliff
がけっぷち.

2 瀬戸ぎわ，土壇(どたん)場，危機

be driven to the brink of ruin
破滅の寸前に追いやられる

bring ... to the brink
…を瀬戸ぎわに追い込む.

on [at] the brink of ...

…に瀕(ひん)して

on [at] the brink of starvation
餓死寸前で.

［スカンジナビア語. 「山の傾斜」→「危ういぎりぎりの端」］

verge

1 （ある方向・地点・状態に）傾く，向う，推移する；広がる((on, upon, to,
toward ...))

The hill verges to the north.
その丘は北に広がっている.

2 （太陽が）傾く，沈む.

verge

[名]

1 端，へり，縁(ふち), 道の端，花壇の縁；装飾的な縁どり

the verge of a forest
森のはずれ.

2 ((the ～))限界，境界，瀬戸際，間際，範囲；境界をなす帯状のもの；((詩))水平［地平］線

the verge of a flower bed
花壇の縁どり.

3 特別管轄区域；英史宮内大臣管区.

4 （屋根の）けらば（軒先）；（円柱・小柱の）柱身.

5 権杖(けんじょう)：高位聖職者の裁治権のしるしの杖(つえ).

6 （振子時計の）レバー.

on the verge of ...

…間際の，寸前の，いまにも…しようとして

on the verge of tears
涙をこぼしそうな

be on the verge of starvation
餓死寸前である

She was on the verge of fame as a singer.
歌手として有名になる寸前だった.

━━[動](自)（…の）縁にある；（…に）接する，近接［隣接］する；わずかに寄る((on,
upon ...))

A small lake verges on my property.
私の土地沿いに小さな湖があります.

━━(他)…のへり［境界］をなす

a fence verging the park
公園の境をなしているへい.

verge on ...

(1)〈人・動物などが〉（…の状態に）近づく，今にも（…に）なろうとする

The American eagle is verging on extinction.
ハクトウワシは絶滅に瀕している.

(2)〈言動・色などが〉（…に）近い，ほとんど等しい

His statements often verge on nonsense.
彼の発言はしばしばたわごとに近い.

［中フランス語←ラテン語virga（杖）］

bailout

[名]

1 ((略式))（財政的な）緊急援助；債務棚上げ.

2 保釈；（パラシュートなどによる）緊急脱出.

3 代替方法.

squabble

[動](自)[名]つまらないけんか［言い争い］（をする）((about, over ...)).