Greece will be committing “suicide” if its parliament fails to back sweeping austerity measures aimed at averting a catastrophic default, according to the head of the country’s central bank.

希腊央行行长指出，如果议会不能通过旨在避免灾难性违约的大规模紧缩措施，将无异于在让希腊“自杀”。

The stark warning by George Provopoulos, governor of the Bank of Greece, further heightened the stakes ahead of a knife-edge vote on Wednesday in the Greek parliament. It came as Athens’ police fired tear gas after protests at the severity of the measures imposed by the European Union and International Monetary Fund turned violent.

乔治•普罗沃波罗斯(George Provopoulos)这一措辞直接的警告，进一步强调了周三希腊议会将举行的结果不可预料的投票的重大性。就在这场投票到来之际，在雅典，针对欧盟(EU)和国际货币基金组织(IMF)提出的严厉紧缩措施的抗议转变为暴力冲突，警方使用了催泪弹。

Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr Provopoulos expressed concern that Greece’s economic crisis had been downplayed by politicians over the past 18 months as the country lurched towards a possible default.

普罗沃波罗斯在向英国《金融时报》发表讲话时表示担心，过去一年半以来政客们淡化了希腊的经济危机，目前该国正蹒跚走向可能的违约。

“We have never really had a debate in this country about what went wrong. In Portugal the new government has come in and said that there will be a difficult two years ahead. We have not had that kind of talk here,” he said.

普罗沃波罗斯表示：“在希腊，我们从未认真辩论过问题出在哪儿。葡萄牙产生了新政府，新政府表示未来两年会很困难。然而在希腊，我们没有听到过类似的话。”

He added: “For parliament to vote against this package would be a crime – the country would be voting for its suicide.”

他补充表示：“议会投票反对紧缩方案将是犯罪——这无异于投票让国家自杀。”

Turning up the heat, Olli Rehn, the EU’s top economic official, dismissed German suggestions that the eurozone was contemplating a “Plan B” in case the Greek parliament fails to approve the austerity cuts. “The future of the country and financial stability in Europe are at stake,” Mr Rehn said. “I trust that the Greek political leaders are fully aware of the responsibility that lies on their shoulders to avoid default.”

德国曾暗示欧盟区正在考虑一个“B计划”，以防希腊议会未能通过紧缩方案，然而欧盟最高经济官员奥利•雷恩(Olli Rehn)排除了这种可能，令气氛更加紧张。“这关系到希腊的未来和欧洲的金融稳定性。”普罗沃波罗斯表示，“我相信，对于肩上承担的避免违约的责任，希腊的政治领袖们有着充分的认识。”

The Greek parliament’s approval of a €28bn ($40.1bn) package of tax increases and spending cuts is crucial to securing a second international bail-out to replace a €110bn programme agreed a year ago. On Tuesday night Greece’s socialist government was attempting to rally dissident deputies with close ties to trade unions, hoping to achieve a parliamentary majority on Wednesday.

希腊议会批准一项280亿欧元（合401亿美元）的增税和开支削减方案，对于保证希腊获得第二轮国际纾困至关重要。这笔贷款将取代1年前达成的1100亿欧元贷款计划。周二晚间，希腊社会党政府正竭力争取与工会关系密切的有不同意见的议员，以期周三能够在议会形成多数。