MUMBAI, India – When people talk about Europe’s “government debt problem” they mean something easy to describe: countries that borrowed more money than they can easily pay back. In India, it’s a bit more complicated.
提到歐洲的「政府債務問題」，所指的狀況很容易形容：國家舉債高過能輕鬆償還的限度。印度的情況可就來得複雜些了。

Here, where the government is grappling with national debt and a growing budget deficit, the state might play the part of the delinquent debtor, the imperiled lender or the foot-dragging regulator – or may play all three roles in a single set of tail-chasing transactions.
印度政府正設法解決國債龐大與預算赤字不斷增加的問題，國家扮演的角色可能是拖欠債務者、受害債權人或拖延誤事的管理者，甚至在一場追尾交易中同時扮演三者。

The private company Hindustan Construction, for instance, is trying to renegotiate its $1.3 billion debt, some of it owed to government banks, to avoid defaulting. The company says its financial problems are partly a result of the government’s slow payments for road and highway projects, as well as government delays in giving final go-ahead on other projects already tentatively approved.
以民營印度斯坦建設公司為例。該公司正設法重談13億美元債務的償還方式，以免債務違約，部分債款借自一些國營銀行。該公司說，政府鐵公路計畫付款太慢，遲遲不讓已初步批准的建設項目上馬，都是造成該公司財務問題的部分原因。

Bad loans now pose “the most significant risk to the financial system” in India, according to a recent survey of 100 bankers by the Reserve Bank of India. The country’s once red-hot economy has started to cool and it is now trying to cope with debt and deficit problems.
印度儲備銀行最近訪問100位銀行界人士的結果顯示，呆壞帳是當前印度金融體系「最大的威脅」。印度曾經火紅的經濟已開始冷卻，政府還得設法解決債務與赤字問題。

In the annual budget speech to Parliament on March 16, India’s finance minister, Pranab Mukherjee, said that the country would raise taxes and slow growth in spending in an effort to lower its swelling budget deficit. Mr. Mukherjee said India would reduce its budget deficit to 5.1 percent of gross domestic product in the fiscal year that starts in April, down from an estimated 5.9 percent for the current year, by relying heavily on increases in sales taxes and import tariffs on cars, gold and other items.
印度財政部長穆克吉三月16日對國會發表年度預算演說時指出，印度政府準備加稅並壓低開支成長，以使不斷擴大的預算赤字縮小。他表示印度準備在四月開始的新會計年度中，把預算赤字在國內生產毛額（GDP）中所占比率，由上年度的5.9%左右降至5.1%，方法包括提高營業稅及汽車、黃金等商品的關稅。

Analysts and investors said that they were disappointed that he did not announce measures to bolster the country’s slowing economy.
分析師與投資人說，穆克吉未宣布新措施以提振印度趨緩的經濟，令他們失望。

Among the companies now struggling even to pay their employees are two of India’s biggest airlines. One is the formerly admired state run Air India. The other is privately held Kingfisher Airlines, which, besides stumbling from its own management missteps, has been hurt by the government’s barring it from profitable international routes in order to protect Air India. And in electric power, analysts describe a looming financial disaster in state-owned utilities. They have accumulated losses of $14 billion because the low government-mandated rates they charge customers do not cover the cost of generating power.
有些印度企業連支付員工薪資都有困難，包括印度兩大航空公司：曾令人稱羨的國營印度航空，以及民營的翠鳥航空。翠鳥陷入困境除本身經營不善外，因政府保護印航而無法開闢賺錢的國際航線也是原因。至於電力產業，分析家說國營電力公司的財務災難已隱然若現。由於政府制訂的低費率不敷發電成本，這些公司的虧損累計已達140億美元。

The Indian government’s debt stands at nearly 69 percent of its G.D.P., according to Citigroup. That is little changed from 71 percent a year earlier. But its fiscal deficit has been rising, and many analysts expect it to be 5.8 percent of G.D.P. at the end of March, up from 4.8 percent a year earlier.
花旗集團估計，印度政府負債幾達GDP的69%，跟一年前的71%差不多，財政赤字卻不斷增加。許多分析師估計三月底時財政赤字占GDP的比例可能達到5.8%，高於一年前的4.8%。

Meanwhile, as India’s slowing growth creates financial challenges for state-run and private companies alike, the risk has fallen disproportionately on government-owned banks, which account for about 75 percent of India’s banking system. At the end of December, 3 percent of loans made by the 15 largest state-owned banks were nonperforming, compared with about 1.8 percent for six newer private banks, according to Avendus Securities in Mumbai. Analysts say most of the problems are concentrated in industries like aviation, infrastructure, real estate and telecommunications – businesses where the government is heavily involved as a player or lender, and which have also suffered from erratic or delayed government policies.
印度國營銀行的規模約占全國金融體系的75%。在經濟成長趨緩使國、民營企業都面臨財務挑戰之際，國營銀行承擔的風險高到不成比例。孟買艾凡達斯證券統計，去年12月底時，15家最大國營銀行的貸出款不良債權約達3%，高於6家新辦民營銀行的1.8%。分析師指出，問題大多出在航空、基礎建設、房地產與電信等產業。印度政府對這些產業介入極深，扮演經營者或放款人的角色。這些產業也因官方政策失當或延誤而受害。

India’s slowing economy grew by 7.4 percent last year, down from 9.9 percent in 2010, according to the International Monetary Fund. The fund expects India’s growth to slow further this year, to 7 percent. While that is fast relative to developed countries, most economists consider it laggardly.
國際貨幣基金指出，印度經濟去年成長的幅度降至7.4%，低於2010年的9.9%，今年可能續降，來到7%。相對於已開發國家，這種成長幅度相當可觀，多數經濟學家則認為已顯遲緩。

Leaders in the governing coalition led by the Congress Party are deeply divided about the best way forward, especially as their political authority has been eroded by a series of corruption scandals. In March, opposition and regional parties scored big victories in five state elections.
以國大黨為首的印度執政聯盟領導人對如何提振經濟見解各異，尤其正值他們的政治威信因為連串貪瀆醜聞而大受打擊之際。今年三月，在野黨與各區域政黨在五個省的選舉中大勝。

“Most of the nonperforming loans are not getting created because of high interest rates but because of some kind of policy issues,” said Samiran Chakraborty, who heads research at Standard Chartered bank in Mumbai.
孟買渣打銀行研究部門主管查克拉波迪說：「多數不良債權並不是因為利率高而出現，而是政策所致。」

“Unless those policy issues get resolved,” he added, “you could see the nonperforming loan situation remaining worrisome for a while.”
「除非這些政策問題獲得解決，」他說：「你會看到，未來相當時日，不良債權問題仍將令人憂心。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/16/business/global/as-indias-economy-sags-bad-loans-beset-state-run-banks.html

2012-04-03聯合報/G9版/UNITEDDAILYNEWS 陳世欽譯 原文參見紐時週報七版右