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.

【新聞快訊】

美國底特律市18日向聯(lián)邦法院申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)保護(hù)，使這個(gè)昔日輝煌的“汽車之城”成為美國歷史上最大的申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)保護(hù)的城市。美國白宮表示，正在密切關(guān)注底特律事態(tài)的發(fā)展。

18日下午，密西根州州政府指定的底特律緊急狀態(tài)管理人凱文·奧爾申請(qǐng)立即將底特律市置于破產(chǎn)保護(hù)之下。

底特律市所在的密歇根州州長(zhǎng)施耐德當(dāng)天表示，已經(jīng)批準(zhǔn)了凱文·奧爾提交的市政破產(chǎn)保護(hù)申請(qǐng)，并指出，底特律市當(dāng)前的財(cái)政緊急狀況已經(jīng)無法通過其他的自救措施來化解，宣告破產(chǎn)是當(dāng)前唯一的出路。

如果破產(chǎn)申請(qǐng)通過，凱文·奧爾將可以動(dòng)用該市的資產(chǎn)支付債權(quán)人和養(yǎng)老保險(xiǎn)付款。

據(jù)美國媒體報(bào)道，為了保護(hù)日漸減少的現(xiàn)金，凱文·奧爾上個(gè)月已經(jīng)停止了支付20億美元的債務(wù)。現(xiàn)在底特律的債務(wù)已高達(dá)180億美元。此次重組計(jì)劃要求削減115億美元的債務(wù)。

今年6月，底特律方面曾希望能夠通過債務(wù)減記的方式來避免破產(chǎn)困境，但是此舉遭到了債權(quán)人的抵制，這使得其財(cái)政最終宣告走投無路，不得不邁出了宣告破產(chǎn)的這一步。