It is time to recognise that Greece is not just suffering from a liquidity crisis; it is facing an insolvency crisis too. Rating agencies have started to downgrade its public debt to junk level, while spreads on Greek sovereign bonds last week spiked to new highs. The €110bn bail-out agreed by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund in May only delays the inevitable default and risks making it disorderly when it comes. Instead, an orderly restructuring of Greece's public debt is needed now.
现在我们应该意识到,希腊不仅遭遇了一场流动性危机;还面临着一场偿付危机。评级机构已开始将该国的公共债务调降至垃圾级,希腊主权债券利差上周飙升至新高。欧盟(EU)和国际货币基金组织(IMF)5月批准的1100亿欧元纾困计划,只是让不可避免的违约向后延了延期,并可能在发生违约时让局面变得混乱无序。而我们现在需要的是对希腊的公共债务进行有序重组。