2019年经济学人 摇摇欲坠的经济(1)

 

Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, once called high interest rates "the mother of all evil".

土耳其总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安曾称高利率是“万恶之母”。

Murat Uysal, its new central-bank governor, must then be close to angelic.

新上任的央行行长穆拉特·乌伊萨一定是一位接近天使般的人物。

Since Mr Erdogan sacked Mr Uysal's predecessor¹ four months ago for refusing to slash² interest rates,

自从四个月前，乌伊萨的前任因拒绝削减利率而被埃尔多安解雇以来，

he has cut three times, by a cumulative³ ten percentage points.

他已经削减了三次利率，累计减少了十个百分点。

The latest cut, of 2.5 percentage points on October 24th, was more than double market expectations.

10月24日最新一次降息2.5个百分点，是市场预期的两倍多。

After last year's aggressive tightening⁴, easing now makes some sense. Inflation is back in single digits⁵, after passing 25% last autumn.

在去年激进的紧缩政策之后，现在放松货币政策是有道理的。去年秋天，通货膨胀率超过了25%，现在又回到了个位数。

The lira has partially⁶ recovered from a battering⁷ that had pushed domestic prices up.

里拉已经部分从从推高国内物价的打击中恢复了过来。

In early October America threatened sanctions in response to Turkey's offensive in Syria.

10月初，美国威胁对土耳其实施制裁，以此回应土耳其对叙利亚的进攻。

The lira slumped⁸, but after America brokered⁹ a ceasefire deal on October 17th, it steadied again.

里拉暴跌，但在美国于10月17日促成停火协议后，里拉再次稳定下来。

It strengthened further when Turkey's and Russia's presidents signed a similar agreement. That gave the bank room for the most recent cut.

当土耳其和俄罗斯总统签署了类似的协议后，这种稳定进一步加强。这为央行最近一次降息提供了空间。

Turkey crawled out of recession at the start of the year, but credit growth is still weak.

土耳其在今年年初走出了经济衰退，但信贷增长仍然疲弱。

Companies with hard-currency debt have been unable to borrow,

拥有硬通货债务的公司无法借款，

and banks sitting on $20bn-worth of non-performing loans (npls) have been reluctant to lend.

并且坐拥200亿美元不良贷款（npls）的银行一直不愿放贷。

Monetary¹⁰ policy alone will not fix the economy, says Selva Demiralp of Koc University: "Turkey needs to find a solution to the npl problem first."

单靠货币政策无法解决经济问题，科特大学的塞尔瓦·德米拉普称：“土耳其首先需要找到解决不良贷款问题的办法。”

In September the government ordered banks to reclassify debt of 46bn lira ($8bn) as bad loans.

9月，政府命令银行将460亿里拉（合80亿美元）的债务重新归类为不良贷款。

But doubts remain as to how banks will clear these loans from their balance-sheets.

但银行如何将这些贷款从他们的资产负债表中清除出去仍然存在疑问。

1 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

2 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

3 cumulative   

adj.累积的，渐增的

参考例句：

• This drug has a cumulative effect.这种药有渐增的效力。
• The benefits from eating fish are cumulative.吃鱼的好处要长期才能显现。

4 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

5 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

7 battering   

n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The film took a battering from critics in the US. 该影片在美国遭遇到批评家的猛烈抨击。
• He kept battering away at the door. 他接连不断地砸门。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 slumped   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Sales have slumped this year. 今年销售量锐减。
• The driver was slumped exhausted over the wheel. 司机伏在方向盘上，疲惫得睡着了。

9 brokered   

adj.由权力经纪人安排（或控制）的v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的过去式和过去分词 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• a peace plan brokered by the UN 由联合国出面协商的和平计划
• Your husband brokered the deal to go in, transfrer the assets and get our man out. 你丈夫后来插了一脚，把生意都抢了过去，我们的人也被挤了出来。 来自电影对白

10 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。