美国国家公共电台 NPR 土耳其总统因其打击通货膨胀的计划而受到批评（在线收听）

Turkey's president is criticized for his plan to combat inflation

土耳其总统因其打击通货膨胀的计划而受到批评

Transcript

The new year brought a steep spike in food prices — within in a currency crisis that has been going on for months. The Turkish president is taking an unorthodox approach to correct the issue.

新年带来了食品价格的急剧上涨——在持续数月的货币危机中。土耳其总统正在采取非正统的方式来纠正这个问题。

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Inflation is on the rise here in the U.S., but in some countries like Turkey, the situation is extreme. The new year brought a steep spike in food prices there and a currency crisis that's been going on for months. The Turkish president is taking an unorthodox approach. NPR's Peter Kenyon has been talking with people in Istanbul struggling to cope.

美国的通货膨胀率正在上升，但在土耳其等一些国家，情况更极端。新年带来了那里食品价格的急剧上涨，以及持续数月的货币危机。土耳其总统正在采取一种非正统的做法。NPR的彼得·凯尼恩（PeterKenyon）一直在与伊斯坦布尔正在努力应对的人们交谈。

PETER KENYON, BYLINE: Nejdet Sik, who works in a kebab restaurant, says people are under a huge strain. He can feel it every time he rides the bus or the tram.

彼得·肯扬（PeterKenyon），署名：NejdetSik，在一家烤肉串餐厅工作，他说人们承受着巨大的压力。他每次坐公共汽车或电车都能感觉到。

NEJDET SIK: What can I say anymore? Economics - everyone upset. If you touch someone, they are really like the dog - want to bite you because stress, too much stress, brother, so I hope change.

我还能说什么？国家的经济状况——每个人都很沮丧。如果你碰了某人，他们真的很像狗——因为压力太大而想咬你，兄弟，所以我希望改变。

KENYON: He says he completely understands how they're feeling, watching their standard of living decline before their eyes.

他说他完全理解他们的感受，看着他们的生活水平在眼前下降。

SIK: What they're going to do? They can't buy stuff, they can't give to electric, they can't give to the gas, look after the kids or give the rent. What they are going to do?

他们要做什么？他们不能买东西，不能买电，不能买汽油，不能照看孩子，也不能付房租。他们将要做什么？

KENYON: Many economists will tell you that a big reason for Turkey's inflation problem is President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's unorthodox theory that cutting interest rates will bring prices down, rather than force them even higher, as most economists believe. In a speech to his ruling party members late last year, Erdogan appeared to acknowledge the risk involved in cutting rates. But he declared that in the end, it would pay off for the Turkish lira and the country. Analyst Can Selcuki at Istanbul Economic Research says while he doesn't support Erdogan's policy, he can explain what the Turkish president is trying to do.

许多经济学家会告诉你，土耳其通货膨胀问题的一个重要原因是总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安的非正统理论，即降低利率会降低价格，而不是像大多数经济学家所认为的那样迫使价格更高。在去年底对执政党成员的讲话中，埃尔多安似乎承认了降息的风险。但他宣布，最终，这将为土耳其里拉和国家带来回报。伊斯坦布尔经济研究所（Istanbul Economic Research）的分析师肯·塞尔库基（CanSelcuki）表示，虽然他不支持埃尔多安的政策，但他可以解释土耳其总统正在试图做什么。

CAN SELCUKI: So the two fundamentals of the new model is low interest rates and a depreciated lira, with the aim of boosting exports, construction and tourism, which in return will provide a surplus, which will be used for investments, thereby valuing the Turkish lira and bringing down interest rates.

因此，新模式的两个基本要素是低利率和里拉贬值，目的是促进出口、建筑和旅游业，而这将提供盈余，用于投资，从而对土耳其里拉进行估值并降低利率。

KENYON: The problem, says Selcuki, is that no economist he knows believes the currency markets will respond the way Erdogan says they will.

塞尔库基说，问题是，他认识的经济学家中没有一个相信货币市场会像埃尔多安所说的那样做出反应。

SELCUKI: The belief in Erdogan's administration is that interest rates causes inflation, which is against any common wisdom or knowledge of economy that we have.

埃尔多安政府的信念是利率会导致通货膨胀，这违背了我们对经济的任何常识或知识。

KENYON: But rather than reverse course, Erdogan has dug in his heels and vowed to continue. At an outdoor tea shop, I meet Bojana, who didn't want to give her last name when being critical of Turkey. She's a 42-year-old freelance filmmaker who moved to Turkey two years ago from Macedonia. She says obviously, this crisis in the Turkish lira works out well for foreigners who get paid in euros or other relatively strong currencies. But she's painfully aware of what it's doing to her Turkish friends.

但埃尔多安并没有改变方向，而是脚踏实地，发誓要继续下去。在一家户外茶馆，我遇到了Bojana，她在批评土耳其时不愿透露自己的姓。她是一位42岁的自由电影制片人，两年前从马其顿搬到土耳其。她说，很明显，土耳其里拉的这场危机对那些以欧元或其他相对强势的货币获得报酬的外国人来说效果很好。但她痛苦地意识到这对她的土耳其朋友的影响。

BOJANA: You can see it everywhere. You can see it in the neighborhoods. You can see that shops are closing. You can see, of course, in the supermarket bills that they are now double, if not triple, what they were. But it is palpable. You can see it.

你到处都可以看到。你可以在附近看到它。你可以看到商店正在关门。当然，你可以在超市账单中看到，现在的账单是原来的两倍，如果不是三倍的话。但这是显而易见的。你可以看到它。

KENYON: By now, many in Turkey are aware that the lira lost nearly 40% of its value against the dollar last year, and they're wondering what the new year will bring. Peter Kenyon, NPR News, Istanbul.

到目前为止，土耳其的许多人都知道里拉去年对美元贬值了近40%，他们想知道新的一年会带来什么。Peter Kenyon，NPR新闻，伊斯坦布尔。