国家破产之日 国内上映_冰岛：舞动在破产边缘

　　提起冰岛，人们也许首先想到的是那个千里冰封、童话般的美丽国度。经济好，环境美，福利高，这个弹丸小国曾令世界羡慕不已。 　　然而最近，冰岛却因濒临“国家破产”而成为世界舆论的焦点。上世纪九十年代凭借信贷和银行业的疯狂扩张而迅速致富的冰岛现在 “一夜致贫”。冰岛究竟怎么了？
　　破产，简单一句话就是资不抵债。过去十几年，金融业在冰岛超常发展，其产业在国民经济中的比重远远超过其他产业。冰岛国内生产总值仅为194亿美元，而外债却超过1383亿美元。冰岛四大银行所欠的外债超过1000亿欧元，但冰岛中央银行能动用的流动外币仅为40亿欧元。冰岛克朗最近大幅贬值，冰岛人必须归还在短期内就变得极其昂贵的欧元或者美元贷款，这无疑加剧了危情。
　　陷入水深火热的冰岛向盟友寻求帮助，但几乎招到一致拒绝。冰岛第二大银行Landsbanki宣布破产后，英国马上冻结该银行在英国的资产，以确保英国储户在该行存款的安全。冰岛从俄罗斯获得的40亿欧元援助弥足珍贵，但这无疑只是杯水车薪。
　　冰岛自身可利用的资金极其有限，分析人士认为，即便国际货币基金组织同意伸出援手，冰岛在短期内依然难以从金融海啸的重创中恢复元气。
　　
　　The days grow ever darker in 2)Reykjavik. Gone is the almost eternal daylight, which washes across Iceland’s capital 3)in the height of summer. A darkening gloom arrives earlier each day now. An icy wind blows in from the east. Darkness will be a constant presence here soon as winter sets in.
　　If ever a nation’s changing climate reflected the mood of its people, it is here. Every morning, it seems, the residents awake to news of fresh problems in their country’s banking system. Last week, the country’s third largest bank was nationalised. This week, the government 4)dismissed the board of directors of Landsbanki, its second-largest bank, and put it into 5)receivership. Later, the Prime Minister warned its citizens the country faces bankruptcy.
　　Iceland is rated by the UN as the most developed society on earth. But it now faces less welcome
　　6)distinction as the country worst 7)exposed to the credit 8)crunch.
　　Laugavegur, the capital’s 9)chic main stretch, is quiet. At one of the main branches of Landsbanki, executives could be seen yesterday pacing the upper floors, mobile phones held to their ears, hands on foreheads. Galleries, antiques stores and jewellery 10)boutiques, which 11)sprang up in the boom days of the past decade, were empty. Some are closed altogether. It is not a day to be in business in Iceland.
　　The few Icelanders who are 12)out and about gather in tight groups, 13)shielding themselves from the wind and discuss the latest disasters to strike its banks. The credit crunch is the only topic in town. Many head to their banks, where a steady stream of concerned savers enters to inquire just how safe their money is. This 14)bleak picture of shattered consumer confidence does not seem 15)out of place in a nation famed for its 16)Viking 17)sagas. It now has a new epic tale to tell: how its banks have brought a whole nation to the brink of bankruptcy.
　　But it is not just the banking sector that is suffering. Huge borrowing has fuelled inflation, now running at 14 per cent. To make things worse, Iceland’s once-strong currency, the 18)krona, has
　　19)plummeted in value. Some stores are refusing to restock imported items before they have cleared their last stocks, fearful of making losses.
　　The collapse of the currency has created opportunities elsewhere. Holiday deals to Iceland, traditionally seen as too expensive for many travellers, are now more attractive. Bar owners in Reykjavik’s central plaza, home to the main hotels, have begun to notice visitors drinking more alcohol―notoriously expensive before the krona plummeted. Bars that have become accustomed to hosting 20)raucous foreign 21)stag parties and 22)bacchanalian pub crawls are bracing themselves for even more visitors this winter. They 23)look set to benefit from the extra spending money tourists have been handed with the fall of the krona. A beer cost up to £8 when the krona was at its peak, but can be bought for half that price now.
本文为全文原貌 未安装PDF浏览器用户请先下载安装 原版全文 　　While shoppers seem to have fled the high streets, worried locals have not abandoned Reykjavik’s
　　24)hedonistic nightlife. Far from it. “Last week a lot of people realised how serious things were―I’ve never seen it so busy,” said Insi Thor Einarsson, manager of the Café Paris, a daytime 25)haunt that fills with 26)revellers at night and stays open until 4 am. “People have been coming downtown since then to drown their sorrows.”
　　Eva Maria, a manager at Elding, a company offering whale-watching tours, says it may even stay open through the winter to take advantage of the interest. “We usually had to carry out all our business over six or seven of the warmer months as there wasn’t enough interest to operate in the winter,” she says. “It’s hard to see the positives at the moment―I 27)bank with Glitnir, lost a lot of money after recently buying an apartment, and this business has loans in foreign currency. But we need to make the most of the current conditions. I’m in the right industry to do that.”
　　There may also be a resurgence of a trade that Iceland has traditionally been famed for―fish. “We are always considered a nation of fisherman, but with the boom of our financial sector and the huge money it generated were forgotten about a little bit,” says Asbjorn Jonsson, the managing director of Fisk Kaup. “We are affected too of course―we hold loans with Icelandic banks and our loans are expensive. But the fishing industry will always be around, and the cheaper krona is helping us to export.” Many Icelanders feel that the dramatic collapse of the financial sector was inevitable. But they are 28)resigned to seeing through the hard times.
　　It is summed up by Gunnar Gunnarsson, a retiree, whose shares in the newly nationalised bank Glitnir have just plummeted. And he banks with Landsbanki, now in administration. “Things are hard but they will get better in the end. Don’t worry―be happy,” he says with a smile.
　　
　　雷克雅未克的暮色更加深沉了。盛夏时节笼罩着冰岛首都的极昼已经消失了，现在，灰暗阴沉的气氛每天都来得更早一点。刺骨的寒风从东面袭来。很快就是冬天，这里将日复一日昏天黑地。
　　如果说一个国家的气候变化可以折射出国民的情绪，冰岛就是其中一个例子。似乎每天一早起来，冰岛人总会听到新消息，他们的银行系统又出现什么新问题了。上周，冰岛第三大银行宣布由国家接管。本周，政府解散了冰岛第二大银行Landsbanki的董事会，并接管该银行。随后，冰岛总理警告国民，冰岛面临破产。
　　冰岛曾被联合国列为全球最发达的国家。然而现在，冰岛有了另一个令其尴尬的世界之最――全球遭受信贷危机打击最严重的国家。
　　首都雷克雅未克的时尚主街――洛加维格大街门可罗雀。在Landsbanki银行的其中一家主要分行，昨天有人看见那些高层们在楼上来回踱步，移动电话不离耳朵，手捂额头。画廊、古董店及珠宝店在过去十年繁荣经济的带动下如雨后春笋般涌现，然而现在这些店内空无一客，有的干脆关门大吉。冰岛的经济已陷于停滞。
　　外出活动的冰岛人已经屈指可数，他们亲密地聚在一起，躲着刺骨的冷风，讨论着其银行系统遭受的最新打击。信贷危机是时下冰岛人的唯一话题。许多人蜂拥至银行，他们关切地询问自己存在银行里的钱究竟有多安全。在这个以海盗传奇著称的国度，这一幕幕消费者信心尽丧的无望情景似乎并不出人意料。此刻的冰岛有了新的宏大传奇――该国的银行究竟如何将整个国家带到了破产边缘。
　　然而处于水深火热的不仅是银行系统，巨额贷款引发了如今高达14%的通货膨胀率。更糟糕的是，曾经强势的冰岛克朗已经大幅贬值。由于担心带来损失，部分商店在清空库存之前不愿重新从国外进货。
　　货币贬值给某些行业带来了商机。长久以来，对许多外国游客来说，到冰岛旅游花费非常昂贵，现在到该国旅游却相当吸引人。各大酒店的集中地是雷克雅未克中心广场，那里的酒吧老板们已经留意到客人的酒类消费量比以往更大。冰岛克朗贬值以前，这里的酒类是出名的贵。那些通常有成群外国男性游客疯狂饮酒作乐的酒吧已经准备好，今年冬天会迎来更多的游客。随着克朗贬值，外国游客们会额外多花一些钱，酒吧老板们寄望从中获利。往日冰岛克朗最坚挺的时候，一杯啤酒的价格可高达8英镑（约合120元人民币），但现在只需要一半的价钱。
　　大街上人头涌涌的情景已经不复存在，但忧心忡忡的当地人并没有抛弃冰岛人及时行乐的作风，他们的夜生活反而更甚。“上周许多人意识到金融危机的严重――我的店从未如此热闹，”巴黎咖啡厅的经理尹西・托尔・艾纳森说道。这家咖啡厅本是人们白天的一个常去地，如今却晚晚都充斥着饮酒狂欢者，直至凌晨四点。“自从那以后，人们都纷纷到这里来，借酒消愁。”
　　艾丁是一家组织赏鲸旅游团的公司，其经理伊娃・玛丽亚称他们今年的生意甚至可以整个冬季都保持营业，以迎合市场的需求。“以往我们的营业季节只限于天气较暖的六七个月份，因为冬天赏鲸没有足够的吸引力，”她说道，“目前的金融形势让我亏本不少――我在Glitnir银行有存款，不久前刚买了房子，亏了钱，为此我还欠下了外汇贷款。但我们得抓紧目前的时机，尽量多赚点钱。我现在干这行正好能赚钱。”
　　冰岛举世闻名的传统产业――捕鱼业――也许能得以复苏。“我们被视为渔夫的国度，前些年金融业迅速崛起，财源滚滚来，‘冰岛渔夫’的形象给淡忘了一点点，”菲斯克・科普公司的常务董事阿斯比约恩・琼森说道，“当然，我们也受到影响――我们在冰岛各银行都有贷款，而且利息还相当高昂。但无论如何，捕鱼业的根基始终还在，克朗贬值也有利于我们出口。”许多冰岛人都认为该国金融业急转直下在所难免，但他们也只能听天由命，渡过目前的难关。
　　退休老人贡纳・古纳尔森持有刚被收归国有的Glitnir银行的股份，其股价一路下跌；他在另一家已被政府接管的Landsbanki银行中也有存款。老人微笑着一语道破天机：“现在我们处境艰难，但终究会好起来的。别担心，要开心。”
　　
　　
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