This is the VOA Special English Economics Report , from http://voaspecialenglish.com | http://facebook.com/voalearningenglish
The Olympic
flame was lit in Greece on May tenth. The ceremony marked the beginning of a
long trip through Greece and Britain, which holds the Summer Olympics this year.
Greece has been at the center of a political and economic struggle that also
threatens other European economies. It remains unclear if Greece will continue
using the euro, or if its eurozone partners can enact reforms needed to hold the
currency group together.On the day the Olympic flame was lit, Greek Socialist
leader Evangelos Venizelos began an attempt to form a new government. It marked
the third attempt to form a government in the week after parliamentary
elections. Mr. Venizelos' PASOK party finished third in the elections. First,
the conservative New Democracy party attempted to form a government and failed.
Then the leader of the leftist Syriza coalition tried and failed. He said the
election results showed the Greek people had rejected deep budget cuts required
by international creditors. Budget-cutting austerity measures have angered
Greeks. The political situation in Greece raised the possibility of the need for
an emergency coalition or even new elections. The political crisis also raised
the possibility of punishment by Greece's eurozone creditors. They could deny
future payments from the financial rescue plan that they agreed to in February.
The agreement is worth about one hundred seventy billion dollars in loans and
cancelled debt. The rescue is the second for Greece since its debt crisis began
in two thousand nine, and bigger than the first bailout. On May tenth, euro-area
governments released a five and a half billion dollar loan to Greece. But Greek
officials were said to have been unhappy that over one billion dollars was
withheld. The failed efforts to form a government raised concerns that reforms
can work in Greece. The country is now in its fifth year of recession. German
Chancellor Angela Merkel said borrowing as a way to increase growth would be a
step backward. The leader of Europe's biggest economy told her country's
parliament: "Growth through structural reform is important and necessary. Growth
through debt would throw us back to the beginning of the crisis." For VOA
Special English, I'm Carolyn Presutti. To read, listen and learn English with
stories about economics and other topics, go to voaspecialenglish.com. You can
also follow us on Twitter and Facebook at VOA Learning English.(Adapted from a
radio program broadcast 11May2012)
원문출처 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScFFnIEN1Y4&feature=youtube_gdata
English
한국어
