2019年经济学人 第二十二条军规(2)

 

In truth, Mr Khan's government tried hard to keep its distance from the fund.

事实上，伊姆兰·汗的政府曾力图与IMF保持距离。

Instead of agreeing to a deal as soon as it came to power last August,

伊姆兰·汗政府没有在去年8月上任后立马同意该协议，

it turned for help to friendly countries, including Saudi Arabia (which gave $3bn and deferred¹ a similar amount of oil payments),

而是寻求友国的帮助，如沙特阿拉伯（该国提供了30亿美元并推迟了类似金额的石油付款），

the United Arab Emirates ($2bn already and more to come) and China ($2.2bn).

阿拉伯联合酋长国（提供提供了20亿美元，后续还有更多）以及中国（22亿美元）。

China is investing heavily in Pakistan's roads, ports and power plants:

中国正大举投资巴基斯坦的公路、港口和发电厂:

the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Some view this lending with suspicion,

即所谓的中巴经济走廊（CPEC）。一些人对这种贷款持怀疑态度，

seeing Pakistan as a victim of China's "debt-trap diplomacy²".

认为巴基斯坦是中国债务陷阱外交的受害者。

Such an assessment³ seems premature⁴. CPEC spending may have contributed to the increase in Pakistan's imports

这种评价似乎不够成熟。CPEC的支出已经促进了巴基斯坦的出口增长

(the country's current-account deficit⁵ exceeded 6% of GDP in the year to June 2018).

（截至2018年6月，该国经常账户赤字超过了GDP的6%）

But because this import spending was presumably matched by an inflow of Chinese capital,

但因为这种出口支出可能与中国资本的流入相匹配，

it cannot have been responsible for the dangerous dwindling⁶ of Pakistan's foreign-currency reserves over the past year.

所以不能为过去一年巴基斯坦外币储备金的减少负责。

That was Pakistan's own fault. The previous government maintained an exchange rate that was too strong for exporters

这是巴基斯坦自己的错误。上届政府维持的汇率对出口商来说过于坚挺

and fiscal⁷ spending that was too strong for its revenue-raising powers.

并且财政支出过于强劲，无法提高财政收入。

Restoring stability was always going to require the kind of painful policy reforms the IMF often prescribes and oversees⁸.

恢复稳定总需要IMF经常规定和监督的那种痛苦的政策改革。

Not that the IMF will find it easy. Pakistan is a regular taker of its loans but not a diligent⁹ follower¹⁰ of its advice.

这对IMF来说也并非易事。巴基斯坦经常从IMF借贷，却不愿遵守它的建议。

Many of the reforms it has just promised have been pledged repeatedly before, including widening the tax net,

其刚承诺的很多改革之前就已经重复承诺过，包括扩大税收网络、

rationalising utility prices and respecting the central bank's autonomy.

公共设施价格合理化以及尊重中央银行的自主权。

Successive governments have been slow to follow through, afraid of angering powerful domestic constituencies.

由于担心激怒强大的国内选民，历届政府在贯彻执行方面一直行动迟缓。

But the IMF has been similarly reluctant to cut Pakistan off, for fear of the upheaval¹¹ that would ensue.

但由于担心随之而来的动荡，IMF也同样不愿切断对巴基斯坦的援助。

"Governments have tried to 'game' the IMF, and achieved partial success each time,"

“各国政府一直试图‘玩弄’ IMF，每次都取得了部分成功，”

write Ehtisham Ahmad and Azizali Mohammed, former IMF advisers¹².

前IMF顾问Ehtisham Ahmad和Azizali Mohammed写到。

Pakistan's public might dislike the IMF less, if they knew how frequently their leaders disregard it.

如果巴基斯坦民众知道他们的领导人轻视IMF的频率有多频繁，他们或许就没那么讨厌IMF了。

1 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

2 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

3 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

4 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

5 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

6 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

7 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

8 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网

9 diligent   

adj.勤勉的，勤奋的

参考例句：

• He is the more diligent of the two boys.他是这两个男孩中较用功的一个。
• She is diligent and keeps herself busy all the time.她真勤快，一会儿也不闲着。

10 follower   

n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒

参考例句：

• He is a faithful follower of his home football team.他是他家乡足球队的忠实拥护者。
• Alexander is a pious follower of the faith.亚历山大是个虔诚的信徒。

11 upheaval   

n.胀起，(地壳)的隆起；剧变，动乱

参考例句：

• It was faced with the greatest social upheaval since World War Ⅱ.它面临第二次世界大战以来最大的社会动乱。
• The country has been thrown into an upheaval.这个国家已经陷入动乱之中。

12 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。