英国新内阁集体减薪 展减财赤决心

Britain's new coalition government cut its own pay by five percent on Thursday in a sign of the tough medicine the country faces to bring down a record budget deficit.

The centre-right Conservatives and smaller centrist Liberal Democrats agreed on Tuesday on what critics call an unstable partnership of expedience after an inconclusive election.

Reducing Britain's record budget deficit of over 11 percent of national output will be the first test of the relationship.

Ministers met around the cabinet table for the first time on Thursday and promptly awarded themselves a pay cut.

Prime Minister David Cameron will see his annual salary cut to 142,500 pounds ($210,500) from 150,000, while senior ministers will be paid just under 135,000 pounds -- a very healthy salary in Britain.

Ministers' pay will be frozen for the five-year lifetime of the parliament in measures expected to save a total of three million pounds -- a drop in the ocean when weighed against a deficit forecast to reach 163 billion pounds this year. Markets are looking for signs the Conservative-led coalition will act quickly to reduce the deficit by trimming public spending, initially by 6 billion pounds this financial year.

"We are all very aware of the seriousness of the situation and frankly if we don't have a credible programme to reduce the deficit...then we won't have the confidence of the markets and the confidence of the country," Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt told reporters after the hour-long meeting.

The Conservative manifesto contained a pledge to freeze pay for public sector workers next year, excluding the one million lowest paid.

The government has promised an emergency budget within 50 days. Cameron said on Wednesday the government had the worst economic inheritance of modern times in Britain.

英国新一届联合政府于上周四决定，全体内阁成员将集体减薪5%，为削减英国目前面临的巨额财政赤字做点贡献。

上周二，英国中右派政党保守党与中间派小党自由民主党在大选无果后达成协议，组建联合政府，此举被批评人士称为短期联合掌权的权宜之计。

新政府上任后面临的首个考验就是削减占全国总产值比重超过11%的巨额财政赤字。

新政府的首次内阁会议于上周四召开，并立刻在会上做出了集体减薪5%的决定。

新任首相大卫．卡梅伦的年薪从15万英镑减至14.25万英镑（21.05万美元），其他内阁大臣的年薪降后将略低于13.5万英镑，这在英国已相当可观了。

内阁成员的薪资水平在本届议会的五年任期内将保持不变。这一系列措施预计能节省共300万英镑的开支，但这相对于今年1630亿英镑的预测赤字来说，不过是九牛一毛。市场期待保守党领导的执政联盟将采取果断措施，通过削减公共支出来减少财政赤字，本财政年度计划将削减60亿英镑。

当天，英国文化大臣杰里米．亨特在一个小时的会议结束后告诉记者：“我们都很清楚情况有多严重，坦率地说，如果没有一个削减赤字的可靠计划，人们会对市场和国家失去信心。”

保守党还在声明中承诺将于明年冻结公共部门职员的薪资水平，但不包括收入最低的100万人。

政府承诺在未来50天内公布紧急预算案。卡梅伦于上周三表示，新一届政府接手的是英国现代最为糟糕的经济形势。

Vocabulary:

expedience：a regard for what is politic or advantageous rather than for what is right or just; a sense of self-interest（权宜，私利）

a drop in the ocean：九牛一毛，沧海一粟