Impoverished Greece should sell islands 經濟拮据的希臘應出售小島

Bankruptcy-threatened Greece should sell some of its uninhabited islands to raise cash, two allies of Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

面臨破產危機的希臘應當出售部分無人島來籌錢，德國總理梅克爾的兩位盟友說。

"The Greek state must sell stakes in companies and also assets such as, for example, unpopulated islands," Frank Schaeffler, a member of parliament for the pro-business Free Democrats, Merkel’s coalition partner, told the Bild daily.

「希臘政府必須出售企業持股以及其他資產，例如無人居住的小島，」親商派自由民主黨國會議員謝佛勒向德國畫報表示，該黨為梅克爾聯合政府中的執政盟黨。

A member of Merkel’s own conservative CDU party, Marco Wanderwitz, said Athens should provide collateral for any money it receives from the European Union to help it out of its debt crisis. "In this case, certain Greek islands also come into question," added Wanderwitz.

梅克爾所屬的保守派基督民主聯盟成員范德維茲則說，雅典當局應對歐盟協助解決其債務危機的任何金錢提供擔保品。「在這種情況下，某些希臘小島也可以納入討論，」范德維茲補充說。

"We give you cash, you give us Corfu," the Bild commented.

畫報下的評語為，「我們給你現金，你給我們科孚島（希臘知名觀光小島）。」

Greece has around 6,000 islands off its coast, of which only 227 are inhabited, according to the country’s National Tourism Office website.

根據希臘觀光局網站指出，希臘外海約有6千座島嶼，其中只有227座島嶼有人居住。

The cash-strapped country recently launched a fresh round of draconian austerity measures in a bid to rein in a ballooning budget deficit that is more than four times above EU limits.

急需現金的希臘最近實施了新一波的嚴苛緊縮措施，希望能控制住不斷攀升、已超出歐盟規定上限四倍的預算赤字。

新聞辭典

raise：動詞，在本文中指籌款、或指招募、集結，如They are raising money from the neighbors for a charity.（他們替慈善機構向鄰居們募款。）

cash- strapped：形容詞，指缺少現金的、缺錢的，如cash-strapped universities（經費不足的大學），strapped指極為需要、短少的，如I’d love to come with you, but I’m afraid I’m a bit strapped （for cash） at the moment.（我真的很想跟你一起來，但我目前恐怕手頭有點緊。）

draconian：形容詞，正式用語，指（法律、政府行動等）極為嚴 厲的、殘酷的，如He criticized the draconian measures taken by the police in controlling the demonstrators.（他對警方控制示威者時所使用的過度嚴苛手段提出批評。）