英国将坚持紧缩至2018年

Britain will prolong its austerity drive until 2018 as the country’s independent budget watchdog slashed its economic growth forecasts and the chancellor missed one of his targets to improve the public finances.

英国将延长紧缩政策到2018年。该国独立预算监管机构削减了经济增长预测，而财相未能实现改善公共财政的目标之一。

George Osborne, the chancellor, said Britain was still determined to eliminate its budget deficit even though it would take longer than he first thought. “Britain is on the right track and turning back now would be a disaster, he told parliament as he presented his mini-budget to the country.

英国财政大臣乔治·奥斯本(George Osborne)表示，即使需要的时间比他最初设想得更久，英国仍然决心消除预算赤字。他在向全国呈交他的“小预算案(mini-budget)时告诉议会：“英国正在正确的轨道上前进，现在回头将酿成灾难。

Britain has become the poster-child for deficit-reduction, but feeble growth and deteriorating finances have put the coalition government under pressure. Mr Osborne’s critics claim austerity has proved self-defeating.

英国已经成为削减赤字的典型代表，但疲软的经济增长和不断恶化的财政状况加大了联合政府的压力。批评奥斯本的人士声称，紧缩措施已被证明适得其反。

The independent Office for Budget Responsibility predicted the UK economy would shrink slightly this year and grow less over the next four years than it had forecast in March. Robert Chote, chair of the watchdog, said: “What’s striking is the weakness of the recovery over an extended period of time.

独立机构“预算责任办公室(Office for Budget Responsibility)预测，今年英国经济将略微收缩，未来4年增长率也将低于今年3月的预测。这家监督机构的主席罗伯特·乔特(Robert Chote)表示：“在一段较长的时间里，复苏持续疲软，这一点引人注意。

As a result of this bleaker outlook, Mr Osborne said Britain would miss by a year its target of 2015-16 for debt to fall as a percentage of national income. He also said he would extend austerity by another year to 2017-18 to close the cyclically adjusted current budget deficit.

由于前景更加黯淡，奥斯本表示英国将延后一年才能达到2015-16年债务与国家收入比率下降的目标。他还表示，他要把紧缩措施延长一年，至2017-18年，以消除经周期调整的当前预算赤字。

“The public know that there are no miracle cures, Mr Osborne said yesterday.

奥斯本昨日表示：“公众明白不存在奇迹般的对策。

Markets barely reacted to the news. The UK’s benchmark 10-year bond yields edged down to 1.78 per cent, and the pound was flat against the US dollar.

市场对这一消息反应平平。英国基准10年期债券收益率跌至1.78%，英镑兑美元汇率没有什么变化。

The chancellor’s statement did nothing to dispel fears that the UK could be stripped of its triple A credit rating. “In our view, missing the target weakens the credibility of the UK’s fiscal framework, which is one of the factors supporting the rating, Fitch said yesterday.

奥斯本的声明并没有驱散人们对英国将被剥夺AAA信用评级的担心。惠誉(Fitch)昨日表示：“我们认为，未达到目标削弱了英国财政框架的信誉，而这一信誉是支撑评级的一个因素。

The coalition government said corporation tax would fall to 21 per cent in April 2014.

联合政府表示，2014年4月起企业税将下降到21%。