一双鞋换2套房 汽车城变鬼城

美国底特律于当地时间18日申请破产，成为美国规模最大的城市破产案。密歇根州州长施耐德当天批准了底特律申请破产的有关文件，表示底特律已经无法收取足够的税收来满足各项义务，目前只有通过申请破产来避免局势进一步恶化。

<图片1>

Detroit filed for bankruptcy Thursday afternoon, becoming the nation's largest public sector bankruptcy. The move could slash pension benefits to city workers and retirees, and leave bond holders with only pennies on the dollar.

The bankruptcy was filed by Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr and approved by Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder. Snyder said the financial condition of the city left him no choice.

"We have a great city, but a city going down hill for the last 60 years," he said at an evening press conference. He said 38% of the city's budget is being spent on "legacy costs," such as pensions and debt service. He said police take almost an hour to respond to calls, compared to a national average of 11 minutes, and that 40% of street lights in the city are turned off. That's unacceptable," he said.

No major municipal bankruptcy has ever resulted in cuts to retiree benefits, said Michael Sweet, a California bankruptcy attorney. Retirees and city employees say they can't accept cuts in their pension benefits.

Investors say the bankruptcy will make it more difficult for cities and towns everywhere to raise the money they need to build bridges, schools and other infrastructure. It will also hurt municipal bonds held by individual investors.

Detroit's population has fallen 28% since 2000. The unemployment rate, while down from a peak of 27.8% in the summer of 2009 -- when General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) and Chrysler Group were going through their own bankruptcies -- is still at 16.3%, nearly twice Michigan's statewide average.

【新闻快讯】

美国底特律市18日向联邦法院申请破产保护，使这个昔日辉煌的“汽车之城”成为美国历史上最大的申请破产保护的城市。美国白宫表示，正在密切关注底特律事态的发展。

18日下午，密西根州州政府指定的底特律紧急状态管理人凯文·奥尔申请立即将底特律市置于破产保护之下。

底特律市所在的密歇根州州长施耐德当天表示，已经批准了凯文·奥尔提交的市政破产保护申请，并指出，底特律市当前的财政紧急状况已经无法通过其他的自救措施来化解，宣告破产是当前唯一的出路。

如果破产申请通过，凯文·奥尔将可以动用该市的资产支付债权人和养老保险付款。

据美国媒体报道，为了保护日渐减少的现金，凯文·奥尔上个月已经停止了支付20亿美元的债务。现在底特律的债务已高达180亿美元。此次重组计划要求削减115亿美元的债务。

今年6月，底特律方面曾希望能够通过债务减记的方式来避免破产困境，但是此举遭到了债权人的抵制，这使得其财政最终宣告走投无路，不得不迈出了宣告破产的这一步。

2013-07-19

分享

喜欢(0) 快速回复