The Dutch prime minister will on Monday launch a bid to salvage his austerity budget amid political chaos that could cost the country its AAA credit rating and plunge Europe’s debt rescue plans into disarray.

political chaos: 政治动乱

AAA credit rate: AAA 信用评级；这个是债券的信用等级，AAA最高，D-最低，等级越高的其承兑就越方便，抵押贷款也会比较容易，贴现的时候贴现率的折扣也会比较高，在外汇市场中，债券的信用评级决定了债券的流动性和可抵押性。

 Mark Rutte, who is a key ally of Germany and the eurozone’s “hardliners” on financial discipline, has called an emergency cabinet meeting after budget talks collapsed at the weekend.
 
He is expected to resign today and announce snap elections, pushing yet another “core” eurozone country into political and economic uncertainty.
 
In France, early polls pointed to a victory of Francois Hollande in the first round of the presidential elections setting the stage for a run-off between the socialist challenger and incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on May 6th. Mr Hollande has pledged to renegotiate the European fiscal pact that binds countries to a 3pc deficit limit by next year.
 
set the stage for: 为……提供舞台；为……创造条件

3pc（Three-Phase Commit Protocol）：三阶段提交协议
 
The “non-negotiable” fiscal pact, which was vetoed by David Cameron, triggered the collapse of the coalition government in the Netherlands.
 
Geert Wilders, the far-right leader, said he could not support the €16bn (£13bn) of cuts needed to meet the 3pc target. He wouldn’t allow Dutch citizens to “pay out of their pockets for the senseless demands of Brussels” he said.
 
Last week Fitch warned that the Netherlands faces a credit downgrade if it failed to deliver its austerity cuts or let political conflict disrupt economic management.
 
Traders are braced for another volatile week as uncertainty over debt reduction plans spreads to the eurozone’s northern core.
 
brace for：准备接受；准备迎接（困难）； 使……振作精神；为……做准备
 
Hopes that the European Central Bank (ECB) will intervene and re-start its bond buying programme were doused by officials’ comments at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) meeting in Washington.
 
International Monetary Fund（IMF）： 国际货币基金组织
 
Luc Coene, member of the ECB’s governing council, told Bloomberg: “We have done what we can do so far within our mandate and within the possibilities we have. The only thing we could do is overstretch ourselves and then we would even lose the credibility we have at that moment.”
 
Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), secured $430bn (£266.7bn) of extra funds from members to create a “global firewall” against the debt crisis. However experts said it is not enough to reassure markets that the debt crisis can be contained. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday warned the crisis “is not over” during a visit to Germany.
 
 Meanwhile Argentina accused the IMF of focusing too much of its resources on the debt crisis. Economy Minister Hernan Lorenzino, who was also speaking in Washington, said “far too much effort and human and financial resources have been devoted” to solving the crisis at the expense of other countries.
 
 Argentina is being ostracised by some IMF members following its repatriation of YPF-Repsol last week.
 
YPF-Repsol：雷普索尔（西班牙石油公司）

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