Leaders from the G20 group of leading economies will next month seek to agree specific guidelines on reducing global trade imbalances, in a fresh attempt to head off a potential “currency war”.

　　由全球大型經濟體組成的20國集團(G20)領導人，將在下月尋求就減少全球貿易失衡的具體方針達成一致，以求再次努力避免潛在的“匯率戰爭”。

　　Finance ministers and central bank governors, meeting this weekend in the South Korean city of Gyeongju, agreed on a policy framework to contain large current account surpluses and deficits, but a proposal to set specific targets ran into opposition.

　　這些國家的財長和央行行長周末在韓國慶州市開會，達成了一項旨在遏制巨額經常賬戶盈余和赤字的政策框架，但一項確立具體目標的提議遭到了反對。

　　The meeting also announced significant progress in reforming the International Monetary Fund, shifting power away from Europe and towards emerging nations like China and Brazil.

　　會議還宣布，在改革國際貨幣基金組織(IMF)、將權力從歐洲轉移至中國和巴西等新興國家方面，取得了重大進展。

　　Analyst reaction was muted. Eswar Prasad, a former IMF official now at Cornell University in the US, said a previous attempt to impose tougher IMF surveillance of current account imbalances had achieved little while the threat of such monitoring was unlikely to trigger policy changes in countries with large surpluses and deficits.

　　分析人士的反應比較溫和。國際貨幣基金組織( IMF)前官員、美國康奈爾大學(Cornell University)教授埃斯瓦•普拉薩德(Eswar Prasad)表示，以前一項由IMF對經常賬戶失衡實施更嚴格監督的嘗試，幾乎一無所獲；而威脅進行這樣的監督，不太可能推動存在巨額盈余或赤字的國家改變政策。

　　Todd Elmer, of Citigroup, said: “The meeting produced little pressure for the US to back away from its accommodative stance which has fuelled dollar depreciation, it does not call more strongly for increased flexibility in Asia and it appears to leave an out for some countries, like Japan, to pursue intervention or capital controls.”

　　花旗集團(Citigroup)的托德•埃爾默(Todd Elmer)表示：“這次會議幾乎沒有對美國施加任何壓力，要求其逆轉迄今推動美元貶值的寬松政策立場，也沒有更強烈地呼吁亞洲提高靈活性，而且似乎讓某些國家（如日本）放手進行干預或資本管制。”

　　The US, which has been pushing China to allow its currency to rise and reduce its huge trade surplus, claimed victory. Tim Geithner, Treasury secretary, said after the meeting: “The most important thing we achieved is agreement on a framework for curbing excess trade imbalances in the future.”

　　一直在推動中國讓人民幣升值、并減少其巨額貿易盈余的美國宣稱獲勝。美國財長蒂姆•蓋特納(Tim Geithner)在會后表示：“我們實現的最重要成就是，各方就一個框架在未來遏制過度貿易失衡的框架達成了一致意見。”

　　But the statement issued by the ministers left unclear how the imbalances would be reduced. The communiqué also issued a clear warning to the US that loose monetary policy could continue to push volatile capital flows into emerging economies.

　　但是，從各國財長發布的聲明看不出失衡將如何得到削減。會議公報還向美國發出了一個明確警告：寬松的貨幣政策，可能繼續推動善變的資本洪流進入新興經濟體。

　　European nations agreed to surrender two of their seats on the IMF’s 24-member executive board to make way for emerging nations, who will also receive a greater share of “quotas”, which determine voting power. But the exact decisions on reorganising quotas was deferred until 2012.

　　歐洲國家同意在24個席位的IMF執行董事會上，讓出2個席位給新興國家，這些新興國家將得到更大份額的“配額”；這些配額決定投票權。但是，有關改組配額的具體決定，將推遲到2012年作出。

　　Christine Lagarde, France’s finance minister, agreed the shift to combating imbalances would offer a sense of purpose to the French presidency of the G20 next year. The US and South Korea had also sought to forge consensus on a numerical target for surpluses and deficits at this weekend’s meeting, suggesting a cap of 4 per cent of gross domestic product. But the idea of a specific target ran into stern opposition from Germany, Brazil and Japan.

　　法國財政部長克里斯蒂娜•拉加德(Christine Lagarde)同意，向抗擊失衡轉移，將給明年法國出任G20輪值主席國帶來一種目的感。美國和韓國在周末會議上還曾尋求就一個量化的盈余或赤字目標凝聚共識，提出上限宜定在國內生產總值(GDP)的4%。但設定具體目標的想法遭到德國、巴西和日本的強烈反對。