德国财长：欧元的确被低估，但不应怪德国

German finance minister Wolfgang Schäuble has blamed the European Central Bank for an exchange rate that is “too low” for Germany, following criticism last week from US president Donald Trump’s top trade adviser.

德国财长沃尔夫冈•朔伊布勒(Wolfgang Schäuble)指责欧洲央行(ECB)造成了欧元汇率对德国来说“太低”。上周美国总统唐纳德•特朗普(Donald Trump)的最高贸易顾问批评欧元低估。

Mr Schäuble acknowledged in a newspaper interview that the ECB had to set monetary policy for the eurozone as a whole, but said: “It is too loose for Germany.”

朔伊布勒在接受报纸采访时承认，欧洲央行必须为整个欧元区制定货币政策，但表示：“这对德国来说过于宽松了。”

“The euro exchange rate is, strictly speaking, too low for the German economy’s competitive position,” he told Tagesspiegel. “When ECB chief Mario Draghi embarked on the expansive monetary policy, I told him he would drive up Germany’s export surplus . . . I promised then not to publicly criticise this [policy] course. But then I don’t want to be criticised for the consequences of this policy.”

“严格来说，相对于德国经济的竞争地位，欧元汇率太低，”他对德国《每日镜报》(Tagesspiegel)表示。“当欧洲央行行长马里奥•德拉吉(Mario Draghi)开启扩张性货币政策时，我告诉他，他将推高德国的出口顺差……那时我承诺不公开批评这一(政策)路线。但话说回来，我不想因为这种政策的后果而受到批评。”

Peter Navarro, the head of Mr Trump’s new National Trade Council, last week told the FT that Germany was exploiting the US and its EU partners by using a “grossly undervalued” euro to create a vast trade surplus. The comments appeared to place Germany in a category of countries that the Trump administration has accused of currency manipulation for competitive advantage.

特朗普新设立的国家贸易委员会(National Trade Council)的主席彼得•纳瓦罗(Peter Navarro)上周对英国《金融时报》表示，德国利用“严重低估”的欧元获得巨额贸易顺差，占美国以及德国的欧盟伙伴的便宜。此言似乎把德国列入特朗普政府所称的汇率操纵国之列，这些国家被指为了获得竞争优势而压低本币汇率。

Mr Schäuble pointed out that Germany was not able to set exchange rate policy and pinned responsibility for the euro’s weakness against the dollar on the ECB. The German finance ministry was “not an ardent fan” of the ECB’s policy of quantitative easing that had helped to weaken the single currency.

朔伊布勒指出德国无法制定汇率政策，他把欧元相对于美元的弱势归咎于欧洲央行。对于帮助压低了单一货币的欧洲央行量化宽松政策，德国财政部“不是热心粉丝”。

According to the Ifo Institute, Germany recorded a trade surplus of nearly $300bn last year, outpacing China by more than $50bn to hold the world’s largest trade surplus. Critics in Brussels and Washington have called for Germany to reframe its fiscal policy and stimulate domestic demand to increase imports.

根据德国Ifo经济研究所(Ifo Institute)的数据，德国去年的贸易顺差达到近3000亿美元，这是全球最大的贸易顺差，高出中国逾500亿美元。布鲁塞尔和华盛顿的批评者都呼吁德国调整其财政政策，刺激内需以增加进口。

Last month, Mr Trump called the EU a vehicle for Germany and undermined Nato by calling it obsolete.

上月，特朗普把欧盟称为德国的工具，并且称北约(NATO)过时，贬低了这个军事联盟。

In his newspaper interview, Mr Schäuble questioned why a US president would want to divide Europe given that the continent “is closer to them than anybody else in the world”. He added he did not believe that Mr Trump was seriously trying to split up Europe, but he was “testing” a lot.

朔伊布勒在接受《镜报》采访时质疑，鉴于欧洲大陆“比世界上其他任何人都更接近他们(美国)”，为什么一个美国总统想要在欧洲制造分裂?他补充说，他不相信特朗普正在认真地试图分裂欧洲，但他正在大量“试验”。

Mr Schäuble’s comments on monetary policy are the latest in a series of attacks on the ECB’s easy money policies. Last year, the hawkish finance minister blamed Mr Draghi for “50 per cent” of the success of the populist rightwing Alternative for Germany party.

朔伊布勒的货币政策评论是其对欧洲央行宽松货币政策的一系列抨击的最新一例。去年，这位鹰派财长指责德拉吉对民粹主义右翼政党德国新选择党(Alternative für Deutschland，简称AfD)的成功负有“50%”责任。

Mr Schäuble and others on the conservative wing of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s ruling CDU/CSU bloc are concerned that as well as profiting from the refugee crisis, the Eurosceptic AfD, which wants an end to the common currency bloc in its present form, is winning support from voters worried about the euro’s stability and the low interest on their savings.

在德国总理安格拉•默克尔(Angela Merkel)领导的基民盟/基社盟(CDU/CSU)执政联盟中，朔伊布勒和其他保守派人士担忧，除了利用难民危机获利以外，对欧洲一体化持怀疑态度、希望终结目前形式的共同货币集团的德国新选择党，正在赢得对欧元稳定性以及储蓄低利率感到担心的选民的支持。