希臘選舉變數重燃違約憂慮

Greece’s political woes re-erupted as a threat to global financial stability yesterday, triggering the biggest drop on the Athens stock exchange since the 1980s and sending reverberations through world markets.

希臘昨日再度爆發政治危機，對全球金融穩定構成威脅，引發雅典證交所出現自上世紀80年代以來最大跌幅，衝擊波迴盪世界市場。

Concerns about Greece fed into a broader fall in global stock markets, already spooked by sliding oil prices and yesterday’s sharp drop in Chinese equities. The S&P 500 fell 1 per cent shortly after opening while the EuroStoxx index of eurozone companies fell for the second day, down 2.5 per cent.

對希臘的擔憂加劇了全球股市的整體下跌；市場本已受到油價不斷下滑和中國股市昨日大幅下跌的驚嚇。美國標普500(S&P 500)指數開盤不久就下跌1%，而追蹤歐元區公司的Euro Stoxx指數連續第二天下跌，跌幅達2.5%。

The trigger for the plunge was prime minister Antonis Samaras’s announcement of a snap presidential election. If he fails to win sufficient support for his candidate a general election could follow, which investors fear might bring to power the radical left Syriza party.

觸發此次暴跌的事件是希臘總理安東尼斯•薩馬拉斯(Antonis Samaras)宣佈提早舉行總統選舉。如果他未能爲自己提名的候選人爭取到足夠支持，就可能引發一場大選，而投資者擔心，大選可能讓極左政黨——激進左翼聯盟(Syriza)上臺。

Such an outcome would reignite fears about Greece’s place in Europe’s monetary union. Syriza wants to renegotiate the country’s sovereign debt and increase public spending, moves that would put Athens at loggerheads with its creditors.

這樣的結局將重燃對於希臘在歐洲貨幣聯盟內地位的擔心。激進左翼聯盟想要重新談判希臘主權債務，並增加公共支出。這些舉措將導致雅典方面與債權人不和。

The Athens exchange closed 12.8 per cent lower yesterday, the biggest one- day fall since December 1987. Greek banks led the decline, with shares in Attica Bank losing more than 26 per cent and Piraeus Bank 17 per cent.

雅典證交所昨日收盤下跌12.8%，創下自1987年12月以來最大單日跌幅。銀行股領跌，其中阿提卡銀行(Attica Bank)股價暴跌逾26%，比雷埃夫斯銀行(Piraeus Bank)股價下跌17%。

Anxiety over the latest turmoil in Greece also led investors to price in a greater chance of it defaulting on its debt, pushing short term government borrowing costs above long term rates.

圍繞希臘最新動盪的焦慮感，也使投資者認爲該國有更大的機率出現債務違約，結果將短期政府借款成本推升至高於長期利率的水平。