奥巴马新年可能面临新财政问题

Republicans are weighing a new fight with President Barack Obama over the need to lift America’s borrowing limit early next year, raising concerns that the fiscal truce established in last week’s bipartisan budget deal may be shortlived.

美国共和党人正在权衡在明年初是否必须提高美国债务上限的问题上再度与巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)总统作对，令外界担忧上周两党达成预算协议后的“财政停火”可能持续不了太久。

Paul Ryan, Republican chairman of the House budget committee, said yesterday that members of his party in Congress would meet in January to discuss what concessions they would seek from the White House in exchange for lifting the country’s debt ceiling.

共和党人、众议院预算委员会主席保罗•瑞安(Paul Ryan)昨日表示，国会中的共和党议员将于明年1月开会，讨论他们将迫使白宫做出何种让步，以换取提高美国债务上限。

“We don’t want nothing out of this debt limit. We’re going to decide what it is we’re going to accomplish out of this debt limit fight,” Mr Ryan told Fox News.

瑞安对福克斯新闻频道(Fox News)表示：“我们不想白白提高这个债务上限。我们将决定，我们希望从这场围绕债务上限的斗争实现什么。”

The budget deal he crafted with Patty Murray, a Democratic senator, was passed overwhelmingly by the House of Representatives but faces its final hurdle in the Senate this week. The agreement is expected to clear the upper chamber, but opposition from a number of high-profile Republican senators has left some uncertainty about the outcome.

瑞安与民主党参议员帕蒂•默里(Patty Murray)草拟的预算协议已在众议院(House of Representatives)高票通过，但本周在参议院面临最后障碍。预计参议院能通过该协议，但多位知名共和党参议员的反对给最终结果带来了一些不确定性。

“I feel we’ll have a good strong showing from the Democratic side, but we need bipartisan support to pass it,” Dick Durbin, a senior Democratic senator, told CBS.

资深民主党参议员迪克•德宾(Dick Durbin)对美国哥伦比亚广播公司(CBS)表示：“我觉得，民主党一方将展现出有力的支持，但我们需要两党的支持才能通过该预算协议。”

The deal dramatically reduces the threat of a government shutdown over the next two years and unwinds some of the budget cuts introduced in March under “sequestration”.

预算协议大幅降低了未来两年政府停摆的威胁，并解除了一些根据“强制减支”方案在今年3月实行的预算削减措施。

Many view the deal, if passed, as marking the end of three years of vicious fiscal battles but Mr Ryan’s comments suggest that tensions could flare up again soon.

许多人认为，该协议如果能通过，将标志着持续三年的恶性财政争斗告一段落，但瑞安的言论暗示，紧张氛围可能很快再度加剧。

Renewed uncertainty over the debt ceiling comes as Federal Reserve officials prepare to decide on Wednesday whether to begin tapering, or slowing, the pace of their asset purchases in support of the US recovery.

围绕债务上限出现新的不确定性之际，美联储(Federal Reserve)官员准备在本周三决定是否开始放缓购债速度，资产购买的目的是支持美国经济复苏。

A strong jobs report for November increased the likelihood that the Fed might initiate a small reduction in the rate of bond buys, as did news of the budget agreement last week. But Mr Ryan’s comments might temper any enthusiasm among Fed officials about the fiscal environment on Capitol Hill.

强劲的11月就业报告，提高了美联储启动小幅放缓购债速度的可能性，上周达成预算协议的消息也一样。但瑞安的言论可能使美联储官员对国会山(Capitol Hill)的财政环境不抱乐观态度。