英國政府推出第二輪拯救銀行計劃是今天英國報紙普遍關注的一個消息。
《金融時報》的報道說英國政府第二輪的銀行拯救方案目的是要刺激銀行的借貸。
根據此計劃，政府將為銀行的壞債提供保險，而政府得到的是銀行的現金以及股份。
願意加入這個計劃的銀行要保證增加對英國消費者以及商家的貸款。
《泰晤士報》的報道說，這套拯救計劃意味著英國政府從納稅人手中借取數十億英鎊去做賭博。
與此同時，該報的另一篇文章說英國的地方政府稅可能會在今年的四月份再次上漲，平均會升高3.5%, 據信會高出英國通貨膨脹率的三倍。
文章說自從工黨執政以來，英國的地方政府稅幾乎翻了一番。它說英國家庭平均所支付的地方政府稅，再加上煤氣以及電費一年大約要3,000多鎊。
UK banking plan faces criticism
Gordon Brown says the government will do 'everything it takes' to support the economy
The government's latest plan to counter the economic downturn by encouraging lending has been criticised, and sent banks' shares tumbling.
Opposition MPs argued that the government's measures were inadequate and too many details remained unknown.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the move, which centres on state insurance for banks, was essential to help protect jobs.
Business leaders have raised concerns over how much the plan will cost.
The latest government package is the second major set of measures to encourage banks to lend to individuals and businesses, as credit remains scarce or expensive to obtain.
The news sent banking shares down sharply, with Royal Bank of Scotland closing down 67%.
The bank's warning that it could see record losses for 2008 compounded worries about the state of the finance sector.
Four key points
Here are the key points of the government's latest announcement:
• Banks will be able to take up government insurance against their expected bad debts
• The Bank of England will be able to buy up to £50bn worth of assets in companies in all sectors of the economy
• Northern Rock has been given extra time to repay its loans from the government
• The government is increasing its stake in RBS to nearly 70% from 58%. RBS also said it was set to report a huge loss for 2008, with asset write-downs of up to £20bn.
'Turbulent times'
The prime minister said that without the new schemes, jobs may have been "needlessly" lost at healthy firms struggling to gain access to necessary funding.
"Good businesses must have access to credit," said the prime minister.
"It is because of this that we are taking the action to expand lending."
Shadow chancellor George Osborne said the details of Monday's package remained a "mystery".
 |  Unless we are prepared to use the power of Government to get lending going again then the problems will simply be compounded as more and more firms get into difficulties  Chancellor Alistair Darling |
Mr Osborne added that the prime minister "hasn't saved this economy and he hasn't even saved the British banks yet".
Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman Vince Cable said the government's latest plans were inadequate, urging instead for the whole banking sector to be nationalised.
"The government must bite the bullet on the public ownership and control of the banks to ensure that lending is maintained to sound companies who can keep the economy ticking over in these turbulent times," he said.
The long list of policies includes a scheme to offer insurance against banks losing more money from the bad debts that started the credit crunch.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England is to be able to buy assets direct from firms.
The government would not reveal how much the latest plan would cost the taxpayer.
Insurance plans
Under the insurance scheme, banks will agree with the government the amount they expect to lose from particular debt.
The Treasury will then sell insurance against about 90% of the institutions' additional losses from the debt.
Chancellor Alistair Darling said: "Unless we are prepared to use the power of government to get lending going again then the problems will simply be compounded as more and more firms get into difficulties."
He told the BBC that banks taking out the insurance would have to make "very specific legally binding agreements to lend more money".
Under the Bank of England's new role, it will be able to buy up to £50bn of high quality assets, such as bonds and loans, directly from companies.
Vince Cable believes the government is not addressing the situation correctly.
Northern Rock extension
There have also been changes to the terms of previous bank rescues.
The government has given Northern Rock longer to repay its loans from the government.
I thought the tax payer had already coughed up once. Is it Ground Hog Day?
There was concern that the timetable for repaying the loans was forcing Northern Rock to reduce its mortgage lending too quickly.
Separately, RBS said it had agreed with the Treasury to swap the £5bn of preference shares the government holds for new ordinary shares, increasing the government's stake from 58% to nearly 70%.
The swap will reduce RBS's annual payments to the government as preference shares have a higher guaranteed rate of return than ordinary shares.
沒有留言:
張貼留言