2019年经济学人政府秘密贷款(1)（打印版）

How to stop governments borrowing behind their people's backs

如何阻止政府背着人民借贷

In 2016 the government of Mozambique confessed to secret debts of $1.4bn, or 11% of GDP,

2016年，莫桑比克政府承认了14亿美元的秘密债务，占GDP的11%，

mostly as loan guarantees for statebacked companies.

大部分是为国有企业提供贷款担保。

Growth faltered, the currency slumped and foreign donors pulled back.

经济增长步履蹒跚，货币暴跌，外国捐助者纷纷撤资。

The results have been "devastating", says Denise Namburete, a civilsociety activist,

公民社会活动家Denise Namburete在描述已经两年没有药品的

describing health centres that have gone two years without medicines.

医疗中心时称结果是“灾难性的”。

American prosecutors are pursuing eight people involved in the scandal,

美国检察官正在追捕八名涉案人员

including three foreign bankers and a former finance minister, on charges of moneylaundering and fraud.

包括三位国外银行家以及一位前财政部长，指控他们洗钱以及诈骗。

The Mozambique case may be unusual—or not.

莫桑比克的情况可能不同寻常，也可能很普通。

Even the IMF is scratching its head about how much governments truly owe.

就连国际货币基金（IMF）也不知道政府到底欠了多少钱。

In some places the mystery is loans from China and other emerging lenders.

在一些地方，这种神秘来自于中国和其他新兴国家的贷款。

In others it is advance payments from oil traders, liabilities from public-private partnerships or hidden loans from commercial banks.

在其他地方，是来自于石油交易商的预付款、来自公私伙伴的债务或是来自商业银行的隐性贷款。

The Institute of International Finance (IIF), a group of banks and financial institutions,

一个由银行和金融机构组成的团体—国际金融协会（IIF）

has responded to mounting concern by drafting principles on debt transparency.

针对日益加剧的担忧，起草了有关债务透明度的原则。

Finance ministers of G20 countries endorsed them at a summit in Fukuoka, in Japan, on June 8th-9th.

在6月8日到9日，G20国的财政部长在日本福冈举行的峰会上通过了该草案。

The IIF principles are voluntary and would apply only to lending from the private sector, not from states.

IIF的原则是自愿的，只适用于私营部门的贷款，不适用于国家贷款。

Lenders would disclose any loans they make to low-income governments or state firms within 60-120 days of funds being released.

贷款机构将在资金发放后60至120天内披露它们向低收入政府或国有企业发放的任何贷款。

Details would include the loan's purpose and structure, and a range within which the interest rate falls.

其细节将包括贷款的用途及结构，以及利率下降的幅度。

The data would be held by an international institution, perhaps the IMF or World Bank.

数据将由一家国际机构持有，可能是IMF或世界银行。