WASHINGTON, DC – The eurozone crisis unfolded primarily as a sovereign-debt crisis mostly on its southern periphery, with interest rates on sovereign bonds at times reaching 6-7% for Italy and Spain, and even higher for other countries. And, because eurozone banks hold a substantial part of their assets in the form of eurozone sovereign bonds, the sovereign-debt crisis became a potential banking crisis, worsened by banks’ other losses, owing, for example, to the collapse of housing prices in Spain.
华盛顿—欧元区危机之发酵，首先是作为多发生于南欧外围国家的主权债务危机，意大利和西班牙的主权债券利率数次达到了6—7%的水平，其他国家甚至更高。而欧元区银行有很大一部分资产以欧元区主权债券形式持有，于是主权债务危机演变成了一场潜在银行危机，并因银行的其他损失而恶化，比如西班牙房地产价格的崩盘。因此，解决欧元区危机的关键挑战是降低南欧国家的债务负担。