联合国小组呼吁关注世界经济金融安全

AS IT IS 2015-10-09 UN Group Calls for Secure Financial Base to World Economy 联合国小组呼吁关注世界经济金融安全

From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.

A United Nations organization is working to help developing countries become active partners in the world economy.

The UN Conference on Trade and Development says recent financial unrest shows the need for new thinking about international trade and development. The conference, also known as UNCTAD, notes financial problems like the debt crisis in Greece, growing debt levels in other nations and stock market troubles in Asia.

In a new report, UNCTAD is calling for reform of the International Monetary¹ Fund to better meet the needs of developing countries. It also calls on nations to provide greater support for the IMF and development banks.

The report says countries should be able to pay for goods and services in their own currencies without having to use money from a third country. And pointing to the issue of debt, UNCTAD has called on international lenders to find better ways to restructure debt payments.                     

The report adds that many signs show the world has recovered in many ways from the financial crisis of 2007 and 2008. Employment is recovering, although not as quickly as needed. And leading measures of stock prices have recovered to their levels before 2008.

However, economic growth is slowing in both developed and developing countries. UNCTAD also points to debt as a continuing problem. It estimates that $57 trillion have been added to the world’s debt since 2007.

A major idea in the UNCTAD report is its call for the development of a better world financial system with a more secure base. Steve MacFeely oversees² development statistics and information for the organization. He spoke³ to reporters in Bangkok Monday.

“The image on the front of the report this year is a house of cards and that’s really the key message that we want to convey -- is how to ensure that we’re not building a house of cards for an international monetary and financial system for the future but to look at ways of maybe putting in more secure foundations.”    

In its report, UNCTAD criticizes major credit rating agencies, such as Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, for failing to predict financial crises. Mr. MacFeely says the agencies should either improve their models or “be removed from the system.” He suggests they might be replaced by public, international groups.    

UNCTAD itself has been criticized for tending to support government measures to support economies in crisis. This has been in opposition⁴ to the position put forward by many of the world’s financial institutions. They often support giving more power to private businesses and expanding trade and markets.                

Words in This Story

statistics – n. numbers that represent information related to how often something is done, cost or other information about people or things

convey – v. to make known to someone

tend – v. used to describe what often happens or what a person or group often does or is likely to do

currency – n. the money that a country uses; something used as money

1 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。

2 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

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。