Greek Treasury Bills 希臘短期國庫債券

By Malcolm Brabant, Athens

媒體英語會帶大家一起學習BBC撰稿人在報道世界大事時常用到的單詞和短語。

Background: 今天受債務危機困擾的希臘政府希望能通過國際金融市場來募集10億英鎊（約15億美元）。這次短期國庫債券的拍賣是對希臘整體經濟的信用度的關鍵考驗。同時歐元區也通過了針對希臘的救助機制，涉及援助資金達260億英鎊（約400億美金）。

The Greeks will be selling a mixture of treasury or T-bills, as they are called, that mature after six months or a year.

These are regarded as the safest form of securities and as a result usually attract a low level of interest.

But Athens paid a painful price when it last auctioned T bills.

One-year bills sold in January, at the height of the financial crisis, commanded an interest rate of 2.2%.

Whereas the same bill, sold in October 2009, before Greece's predicament exploded onto the world stage, only yielded interest of 0.9%.

Analysts will scrutinise the auction to determine whether the markets feel secure enough to dabble in Greek debt, now that the rescue plan is ready to roll.

Some economists doubt that there will be a significant reduction in interest rates demanded during January's sale.

The success, or not, of the auction, could be a factor in whether the Greeks decide to activate the Eurozone rescue mechanism.

The government here wants to be able to borrow from the international markets at reasonable interest rates.

But if traders are reluctant to purchase Greek debt, then the Prime Minister, George Papandreou, may be compelled to pull the ripcord of Brussels' parachute.