U.S. 'playing with fire' on debt-default |
美國若考慮債務違約相當于玩火 |
Republican lawmakers are "playing with fire" and could damage the dollar's value by considering a brief default on the U.S. debt as a means to pressure President Obama on the budget, Li Daokui, an advisor to China's central bank, told reporters on Wednesday at a forum in Beijing. China should do its utmost to persuade the U.S. from resorting to any debt default and urge the U.S. to ensure the security of Chinese investments in its treasury debt, Li said. But even if the U.S. delays raising its debt ceiling, China and Japan might still maintain their U.S. treasuries holdings, Li added. China is currently the largest investor of US treasury debts, with total holdings of about US$1.15 trillion. Technically, U.S. debt obligations have already exceeded the debt limit, which currently stands at US$14.3 trillion. But the U.S. Treasury Department can use accounting maneuvers to continue making payments until August 2. After that, Congress will have to raise the ceiling, or the government will have to cut expenses and delay payments, leading to a temporary default. |
中國央行貨幣政策委員李稻葵周三在北京參加一個論壇的間隙表示,如果美國考慮債務違約,這相當于“玩火”,還可能危害美國自己的貨幣美元。 李稻葵指出,中國應盡最大努力說服美國不要訴諸債務違約的手段,并敦促美國確保中方在美國投資的安全。 但是,李稻葵還指出,即使出現(xiàn)美國違約的情況,中國和日本還是可能繼續(xù)持有美國國債。 目前中國是美國國債最大的持有國,持有量約為1.15萬億美元。 嚴格來講,美國的債務現(xiàn)在高大14.3萬億美元,已超限額。但此前美國財政部將國家債務違約的最終期限推遲至8月2日。 美國國會必須在此之前提高國家的債務上限,否則屆時財政部將無錢可用,不得不削減一些開支,這將導致美國出現(xiàn)債務違約問題。 |
China's business press carried the story above on Thursday.
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