The acute fiscal challenges across all industrial economies are no surprise. Our economies are emerging from the worst economic crisis since the second world war, and without the swift and appropriate action of central banks and a very significant contribution from fiscal policies, we would have experienced a major depression. But now is the time to restore fiscal sustainability. The fiscal deterioration we are experiencing is unprecedented in magnitude and geographical scope. By the end of this year, government debt in the euro area will have grown by more than 20 percentage points over a period of only four years, from 2007-2011. The equivalent figures for the US and Japan are between 35 and 45 percentage points.
目前，所有工業化經濟體都面臨著嚴峻的財政挑戰，這并不令人意外。我們的經濟體剛剛擺脫二戰以來最為嚴重的經濟危機，如果各國央行不迅速采取適當措施、財政政策也不作出重大貢獻的話，我們將會陷入一場嚴重的蕭條。但現在是恢復財政可持續性的時候了。就其規模和覆蓋的地域范圍而言，我們眼下經歷的財政狀況惡化可謂史無前例。到今年年底，從2007到2011年僅4年的時間，歐元區政府債務將增長逾20%。在美國和日本，這一數字在35%至45%之間。