阿根廷与中国签署货币互换与基建融资协议

Argentina and China signed multibillion-dollar infrastructure-financing and currency-swap deals on Friday during a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, another sign of the Asian country's growing influence in Latin America.

在中国国家主席习近平访问阿根廷期间，阿根廷与中国签署了价值数十亿美元的基建融资和货币互换协议。这是中国在拉美扩大影响力的又一个迹象。

The two governments approved 20 agreements, including a 70 billion yuan currency swap between central banks, equivalent to about $11 billion.

两国共签订了20项协议，其中包括两国央行签署的人民币700亿元（相当于约110亿美元）货币互换协议。

The deals are a rare source of positive news for President Cristina Kirchner's administration, which is struggling with a recession, high inflation, and a possible debt default at the end of the month. But analysts are skeptical the agreements will provide much relief to Argentina's depleted foreign-currency reserves, which the country uses to pay its creditors and defend the Argentine peso.

这些协议对阿根廷总统克里斯蒂娜•基什内尔(Cristina Kirchner)领导的政府来说是鲜有的好消息。眼下阿根廷政府正在艰难应对经济衰退和高通胀局面，月底还面临债务违约风险。但对于这些协议将在多大程度上缓解阿根廷外汇储备的枯竭问题，分析师们持怀疑态度。目前该国政府正动用外汇储备来偿付债务、捍卫阿根廷比索。

The swap doesn't resolve the underlying economic problems that are draining reserves nor can the yuan be converted into other currencies, says Alberto Ramos, senior Latin America economist for Goldman Sachs.

高盛(Goldman Sachs)拉美高级经济学家拉莫斯(Alberto Ramos)说，货币互换协议无法解决那些正在抽走外汇储备的深层次经济问题，再说，人民币也无法直接兑换成其他货币。

'If your house is on fire it's not like buying more insurance will solve the problem. You need to address the main causes of the fire,' Mr. Ramos said.

拉莫斯说，如果你家房子着火了，买再多保险也无法解决问题，当务之急是解决着火的原因。

Reserves now stand at almost $30 billion, their lowest since November 2006.

阿根廷目前的外汇储备规模为近300亿美元，为2006年11月以来最低水平。

By most measures, Argentina's reserves are very low compared with other major Latin American countries, said Claudio Loser, an Argentine economist and former Western Hemisphere director at the International Monetary Fund.

阿根廷经济学家、前国际货币基金组织(International Monetary Fund, 简称IMF)西半球部门(Western Hemisphere)主管洛瑟(Claudio Loser)说，按大多数标准衡量，阿根廷外汇储备规模相比其他主要拉美国家已经显得非常低。

China has also agreed to lend Argentina $2.1 billion to buy railroad equipment, and finance the construction of hydroelectric dams in southern Argentina to the tune of $4.7 billion, Argentina's Cabinet Chief Jorge Capitanich said.

阿根廷内阁首席部长豪尔赫•卡皮塔尼奇(Jorge Capitanich)称，中国还同意借给阿根廷21亿美元用于采购铁路设备，同时将提供47亿美元贷款帮助阿根廷在南部修建水电大坝。

Bedeviled by foreign-currency shortages at home and unable to raise money by selling bonds abroad, Argentina has struggled to find funding alternatives for capital-intensive projects.

由于缺少外汇储备，加上外债发行困难，阿根廷一直难以为资本密集型项目找到替代融资办法。

Mr. Xi arrived in Buenos Aires on Friday following a summit in Brazil of Latin American and the Brics nations, whose members are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. China and Brazil announced a flurry of deals Thursday, ranging from passenger-jet sales to power-grid investments.

在参加完巴西举行的拉美国家领导人会晤和金砖国家（巴西、俄罗斯、印度、中国和南非）峰会后，习近平上周五抵达了布宜诺斯艾利斯。中国和巴西上周四宣布了从客机采购到电网投资等一系列协议。

In the last decade, China's demand for Argentine farm products such as soyoil and soymeal has cemented its place as Argentina's No. 2 trading partner after neighboring Brazil. Bilateral trade rose to $17.3 billion last year, although heavily in favor of China. Argentina's trade deficit with the Asian country widened 9% from the previous year to $5.4 billion in 2013.

过去十年，对阿根廷豆油和豆粕等农产品的需求巩固了中国作为阿根廷第二大贸易伙伴国的地位（阿根廷最大的贸易伙伴是巴西）。去年中阿双边贸易额升至173亿美元，尽管中国对阿根廷存在巨大顺差。去年阿根廷对中国的贸易逆差较上一年扩大9%至54亿美元。

Sino-Argentine ties run deeper than the soy that fattens Chinese hogs. Chinese firms have made significant investments in Argentine banking, mining, oil and agriculture in recent years. Argentina is also home to a thriving Chinese immigrant community, which now accounts for a significant share of supermarket sales in Buenos Aires.

中国从阿根廷进口用于猪饲料的大豆，但这远非中阿关系的全部内容。在阿根廷的银行、矿业、石油和农业等领域，中国企业近年来都进行了相当可观的投资。阿根廷的中国移民也越来越多，布宜诺斯艾利斯超市销售额中有很大一部份是中国移民贡献的。

Mr. Xi's visit is shaping up to be far more beneficial for the Kirchner administration than Russian President Vladimir Putin's brief stop in Buenos Aires on July 12. Mr. Putin's visit yielded agreements in the areas of nuclear energy, communications and judicial cooperation, but little in the way of actual money.

相比7月12日俄罗斯总统普京(Vladimir Putin)的短暂访问，看起来习近平此次访问给基什内尔政府带来的好处要大得多。普京在访问期间与阿根廷在和能源、通讯以及司法合作领域达成了一系列协议，但在提供实际资金方面成果寥寥。

Argentina needs all the help it can get in the months ahead. Even a recession hasn't been enough to tame galloping consumer prices. Mrs. Kirchner's reliance on the printing of money to finance spending has spawned one of the highest inflation rates in the world, which some private-sector forecasts put as high as 40%.

未来几个月，阿根廷将竭尽所能筹措资金。即便是经济衰退也不足以缓和阿根廷国内的物价飙升。基什内尔政府依靠印钞为财政开支提供资金的做法催生了高通胀，使阿根廷成为全球通胀率最高的国家之一。一些私营部门经济学家预计未来阿根廷的通胀率将高达40%。

Dollar shortages and inflation have taken a toll on the economy. The Kirchner administration is expected to report that gross domestic product shrank 0.7% this year, according to the latest survey of analysts by FocusEconomics.

美元供应短缺和高通胀严重损害了阿根廷经济。FocusEconomics最新调查显示，分析师们预计基什内尔政府将公布今年阿根廷国内生产总值(GDP)萎缩0.7%。

Mrs. Kirchner also has less than two weeks to resolve a high-stakes dispute over unpaid debts or risk seeing her country default for a second time in 13 years.

基什内尔还必须在两周不到的时间里解决一场围绕未偿债务的高风险纠纷，否则，阿根廷将面临13年来第二次债务违约。

A U.S. judge has barred Argentina from paying its current bonds unless it also pays hedge funds that have sued to collect on debt affected by the country's 2001 default. Argentina has until July 30 to get some $539 million in interest payments to investors or will likely be declared in default.

一名美国法官裁定，禁止阿根廷偿付现有国债，除非它支付一批对冲基金欠款。这批对冲基金此前起诉阿根廷政府，要求其赔偿2001年债务违约给它们带来的投资损失。阿根廷需要在7月30日之前向投资者支付约5.39亿美元的债务利息，否则，政府可能被宣布违约。

A default would make the recession worse, but nothing like the 2001 crisis, which ranked as 'Argentina's worst recession' since the 1930s, Mr. Loser said.

洛瑟说，债务违约将加深阿根廷的经济衰退，但不会像2001年危机时那样严重，当时阿根廷经济陷入了上世纪30年代以来最严重的衰退。