英國退歐之爭升級 英鎊應聲大跌

Sterling hit a seven-year low yesterday as David Cameron defended Britain’s membership of the EU against a rising tide of opposition within his own Conservative party.

英鎊昨日跌至7年低位，戴維慍蕓倫(David Cameron)爲英國的歐盟成員國身份進行了辯護，試圖擋住他所在的保守黨內日益高漲的反對浪潮。

As currency markets took fright, Mr Cameron attempted to crush the insurgency led by Boris Johnson, suggesting in the House of Commons that the London mayor was only backing a vote to exit the EU in the June 23 referendum to advance his ambitions of becoming prime minister.

在匯市受到驚嚇之際，卡梅倫試圖挫敗以鮑里斯約翰遜(Boris Johnson)爲首的反對派。英國首相在下議院(House of Commons)發言時提出，倫敦市長支持在6月23日的全民公投中投票退出歐盟，只是爲了推進他自己成爲首相的野心。

With at least half of Mr Cameron’s 331 MPs expected to back Brexit and with Mr Johnson emerging as a powerful advocate of the Out campaign, the pound was down by as much as 2.4 per cent to hit a seven-year dollar low.

由於保守黨331名議員中至少一半預計將支持“英國退歐”，以及約翰遜跳出來成爲“退歐”陣營的強大代言人，英鎊應聲下跌2.4%之多，兌美元匯率跌至7年低點。

Rating agencies Moody’s and Fitch fuelled the concerns, warning that a vote to leave the EU could have implications for Britain’s credit ratings; bookmakers cut the odds of a British exit in the referendum to 2/1.

評級機構穆迪(Moody’s)和惠譽(Fitch)加劇了人們的憂慮，它們警告稱，退出歐盟的公投結果可能影響英國的信用評級。與此同時，博彩公司將英國在公投中退歐的賠率降至2/1。

The vote will determine whether Britain will end four decades of commitment to the European project by pulling out of the 28-nation EU, an outcome Mr Cameron insists would threaten the country’s security and prosperity.

這次公投將決定英國會不會退出由28個成員國組成的歐盟、從而結束英國對歐洲一體化持續40年的承諾。卡梅倫堅稱，退歐將危及英國的安全和繁榮。

“Overall, I think we are likely to see further sterling weakness ahead of the vote itself, as the debate rages and uncertainty undermines confidence,” warned Kit Juckes at Société Générale.

“總體上，隨着辯論展開，隨着不確定性削弱信心，我認爲我們很可能在公投之前還會看到英鎊進一步走弱，”法國興業銀行(Société Générale)的基特ㄠ克斯(Kit Juckes)警告稱。

Yesterday’s selling left the pound as the worst-performing major currency of the day, adding to its weak start to the year. It is down 3 per cent since the start of January, the biggest drop of any major currency during 2016. Pressure on the pound intensified, leaving it down by as much as 2.4 per cent to a session low of $1.4058, its weakest level against the dollar since March 2009.

昨日的拋售使英鎊成爲當天表現最差的主要貨幣，加劇了它自年初以來的弱勢。自1月初以來，英鎊兌美元匯率累計下跌3%，是2016年跌幅最大的主要貨幣。英鎊受到的壓力昨日加劇，一度下跌2.4%，至1英鎊兌1.4058美元的盤中低點，這是自2009年3月以來的最低位。

Moody’s said the “economic costs” of a decision to leave the EU would “outweigh the economic benefits”. It said it would consider “reflecting those threats to the UK’s credit standing by assigning a negative outlook to the sovereign’s Aa1 rating following a vote to exit”.

穆迪表示，決定離開歐盟的“經濟成本”會“大於經濟利益”。該評級機構表示，將考慮“在公投得到退歐的結果後，對英國的Aa1級主權評級給予負面展望，以反映英國的信用狀況所面臨的威脅。”

Fitch Ratings said an exit from the EU would lead to immediate “disruption” for many sectors of the economy and raise “significant longer-term risks”, reiterating that it would force the rating agency to reappraise the UK’s current AA+ grade.

惠譽評級表示，退出歐盟將導致英國的多個經濟部門立即受到“擾亂”，並引發“重大的較長期風險”。該機構重申，這將迫使它重新評估英國當前的AA+評級。

The warning came as tensions over Brexit within government ranks rose sharply. Mr Johnson heckled as Mr Cameron ridiculed the mayor’s suggestion that a vote to leave might be used as a lever to secure more EU concessions ahead of a second referendum. “I have known a number of couples who have begun divorce proceedings but I do not know of any who have begun divorce proceedings in order to renew their marriage vows,” Mr Cameron said.

評級機構發出警告之際，政府內部圍繞“英國退歐”的緊張氣氛大幅升級。約翰遜提出，退歐的投票結果也許可以被用作籌碼，在第二輪公投之前爭取到更多的歐盟讓步。這遭到卡梅倫的嘲笑。“我認識好幾對已經啓動離婚程序的夫妻，但我還沒有遇見過有任何夫妻爲了重溫他們的婚誓而啓動離婚程序的，”卡梅倫說。對此約翰遜發出不滿的起鬨聲。

Mr Cameron’s attack on Mr Johnson confirmed the level of concern in Downing Street that the Brexit campaign had not only split the Tory party but that the Out campaign now had a charismatic figurehead.

卡梅倫對約翰遜的攻擊證實了首相府的擔憂程度：“英國退歐”運動不僅分裂了保守黨，“退歐”陣營如今還冒出了一個有魅力的代表人物。

The prime minister claims that Mr Johnson is only backing Brexit in a manouevre to win Eurosceptic Tory support in a future leadership bid.

英國首相稱，約翰遜支持“英國退歐”別有用心，其真正目的是贏得持歐洲懷疑論的保守黨人士的擁護，爲未來爭奪黨內領導權鋪平道路。

“I’m not standing for re-election, I’ve no other agenda other than what’s best for the country,” Mr Cameron said pointedly.

“我不會尋求連任，除了國家的最佳利益外，我沒有其它議程，”卡梅倫意有所指地表示。

But his appearance was met with hostile Tory questions and dissent.

但他的露面遭遇了持敵意態度的保守黨人士的質疑和異見。