西班牙信貸被降級 歐洲債務擔憂加大

Europe's worries over government spending and debts heightened on Thursday, with Spain's credit standing downgraded as the continent's leaders get set for a summit to deal with the crisis.

Moody's Investors Service cut Spain's credit rating one notch to Aa2 and warned of possible further downgrades. The ratings service said it believes Spain will have to spend more than double the $28 billion the government estimates it will cost to restructure the finances of Spanish savings banks.

European leaders are planning to meet Friday in Brussels to help shape a new plan to deal with the government debts of some of the continent's countries, particularly those on the geographic periphery in Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. Greece and Ireland reluctantly accepted bailouts last year to deal with their debt issues, and some European officials say they fear the Portugal could be next. The Lisbon government has staunchly rejected that view.

EU leaders could adopt some measures in an attempt to impose uniform spending practices in the 17 nations that use the euro currency. But there have been wide objections to an austerity plan proposed by Germany and France, the continent's two strongest economies. Countries with burgeoning government debts say they are worried about a loss of autonomy and prestige if a continent-wide plan emerges.

歐洲對政府支出以及債務水平的擔憂星期四進一步加劇, 在歐洲領導人準備舉行首腦會議討論這一危機時，西班牙的信貸評級被降級。

穆迪投資者服務公司把西班牙的信貸評級下調了一個等級, 至Aa2級，並警告說可能會進一步降級。這個信貸評級公司說，它認爲西班牙將不得不花費政府預計280億美元的兩倍多資金來對西班牙儲蓄銀行的財務狀況進行重組。

歐洲領導人計劃星期五在布魯塞爾舉行會議，幫助制訂對付一些歐洲國家政府債務問題的新計劃，尤其是處在歐洲邊緣地帶的希臘、愛爾蘭、葡萄牙和西班牙。希臘和愛爾蘭去年不情願的接受了救助資金來對付他們的債務問題。一些歐洲官員說，他們擔心葡萄牙可能是下一個國家。里斯本政府堅決拒絕接受這個看法。

歐盟領導人可以採取一些措施，在17個使用歐元的國家實施統一的支出做法。但是對歐洲大陸兩個最強大經濟體德國和法國提議的財政緊縮措施則普遍反對。那些政府債務正在迅速擴大的國家說，如果制訂一個涉及整個大陸的緊縮計劃，他們擔心失去作爲一個國家的自治權和聲望。