米債務上限 薄氷の妥協でデフォルト回避

The Yomiuri Shimbun (Aug. 3, 2011)
U.S. default avoided, but dangers persist
米債務上限　薄氷の妥協でデフォルト回避（8月2日付・読売社説）

U.S. President Barack Obama reached an agreement with U.S. Republican and Democratic leaders to raise the debt ceiling of the U.S. government.
　オバマ米大統領は、米国政府の借金枠である債務上限を引き上げることで与野党と合意した。

The U.S. federal debt was projected to reach its current statutory limit of 14.3 trillion dollars (about 1.1 yen quadrillion), with the deadline coming on Tuesday.
　米国政府の債務は、法定上限の１４・３兆ドル（約１１００兆円）に達し、引き上げ期限が２日に迫っていた。

We welcome the news that the U.S. government managed to avoid the worst-case scenario of default on payments to investors in Treasury bonds.
　期限切れ寸前に、ようやく妥協が成立し、国債の償還資金がなくなる債務不履行（デフォルト）という最悪の事態を回避できたことを歓迎したい。

Should the U.S. government fall into default, the markets' faith in the dollar--the world's key currency--would plummet.
　デフォルトに陥れば、基軸通貨ドルの信認が急落し、

The prices of the U.S. Treasury bonds held by other major countries and financial institutions around the world would also plummet, throwing the financial markets into major turmoil.
主要国や世界の金融機関が保有する米国債の価格が暴落して、金融市場の混乱を招いただろう。

On the foreign currency markets, dollar-selling pressure has eased, apparently out of a sense of relief, putting a temporary brake on the sharp appreciation of the yen and the fall of the dollar.
　外国為替市場では、安堵(あんど)感からドル売り圧力が弱まり、急激な円高・ドル安にいったん歯止めがかかった。

Stock prices on the Japanese and other Asian markets turned upward across the board.
日本やアジアなどの株価も軒並み上昇に転じた。

Further stability in the financial markets is desirable.
金融市場の一層の安定が望まれる。

===

Budget-cutting to begin

According to Obama, the agreement would have the federal government cut its fiscal deficit by 2.4 trillion dollars over 10 years, while allowing the administration to raise the debt ceiling on a similar scale in two stages.
　大統領によると、合意内容は、１０年間で２・４兆ドルの財政赤字削減と、同規模の債務上限引き上げを２段階で実施する。

Initially, a spending cut of 900 billion dollars would be made, while the debt ceiling would be raised by the same amount immediately.
　まず、０・９兆ドルの歳出削減とセットで、債務上限を同額ただちに引き上げる。

Then, a suprapartisan committee to be set up within Congress will work out a plan to cut the fiscal deficit by another 1.5 trillion dollars within the year, while again raising the debt limit by a matching amount.
　さらに議会に設置する超党派委員会が年内に１・５兆ドルの財政赤字削減策をまとめ、債務上限を同じく引き上げるというものだ。

Both houses of Congress should quickly pass the bill, worked out on the basis of the accord, and Obama should sign it into law.
　上下両院は合意に基づいた法案を速やかに可決し、大統領の署名を経て成立させるべきだ。

The focal point from now on will be a deficit-cutting plan to be discussed by the new congressional committee.
　今後の焦点は、超党派委員会が協議する赤字削減策である。

The tea party wing of the Republican Party, which made a rapid advance in last year's midterm elections, opposes a tax increase.
　昨年の中間選挙で躍進した野党共和党保守系の「茶会党」は、増税に反対している。

The tea party movement remains far apart from the Democrats and Obama, who wants to realize fiscal reconstruction through a combination of spending cuts and tax hikes.
歳出カットと増税などを組み合わせた財政再建を目指したい大統領や、民主党の主張との隔たりは大きい。

We wonder whether the two sides will be able to agree on any effective deficit-cutting plan, with the political maneuvering over the presidential election for next autumn already a factor.
　来秋の大統領選への駆け引きが絡み、実効性のある赤字削減策で合意できるかどうか。

The pros and cons of tax increases will probably become a major point of contention.
増税の是非が争点になろう。

===

Risks remain real

If the negotiations face rough going, with Republicans and Democrats locked in a tug-of-war over the plan, and if the deficit-cutting measure ends up being insufficient, credit-rating agencies may still downgrade Treasury bonds, raising fears of adverse effects on the world's markets.
　与野党の攻防で協議が難航し、赤字削減が不十分に終わると、格付け会社が米国債の格下げに踏み切る可能性もある。世界の市場に及ぼす影響が懸念される。

The president must exercise leadership in getting the U.S. fiscal house in order.
　財政健全化へ、大統領は指導力を発揮しなければならない。

Both houses of Congress also have grave responsibility.
議会の責任も極めて重い。

Meanwhile, the yen's appreciation continues, with the currency in record strong territory of 76 yen to the dollar, causing hardships in the Japanese economy.
　一方、円高圧力は続いており、１ドル＝７６円台の歴史的な円高水準は日本にとって厳しい。

The yen's rise puts pressure on the earnings of export-oriented firms, thus hindering Japan's economic recovery. 　円高は輸出企業の収益を圧迫し、景気回復の足を引っ張る。

Should Japanese firms accelerate their moves to shift production abroad to cope with the yen's rise, it would bring about a hollowing-out of the nation's industries.
円高対策で海外生産が加速すると、産業空洞化も招く。

We hope Japanese companies will work out better strategies to deal with the excessive rise of the yen.
各企業は国内生産を維持しながら、超円高に対応できる戦略を練ってほしい。

The government should also expand its support to them.
政府も支援を拡充すべきだ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 2, 2011)
（2011年8月2日01時39分 読売新聞）