2006年VOA标准英语-World Bank Corruption Campaign, IMF Reforms Rai

By Daniel Schearf
Singapore
21 September 2006

Finance ministers from mainly developing countries have expressed concern that the World Bank's anti-corruption¹ campaign may divert resources from poverty relief and attach too many conditions to aid.  At this week's annual meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary² Fund, the ministers also pushed the two lending institutions to give developing countries more say in how they operate and to work with the governments rather than tell them what to do. 

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During the annual World Bank and IMF meetings in Singapore this week, finance ministers generally welcomed plans to crack down on corruption and support good governance in Bank-funded projects. 

However, delegates from many developing countries cautioned that anti-corruption efforts should not take the focus off the Bank's purpose of relieving poverty. 

India's finance minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, says the Bank should stick to clear, consistent, and agreed-on governance indicators³ rather than introduce new conditions for receiving aid.

"The proposal to customize country assistance strategies on the basis of governance grading of a country, including extreme options like break in lending, I'm afraid is bound to hurt the development process in countries that need Bank assistance the most," Chidambaram said. 

 
Ghana's Finance Minister Kwadwo Baah Wiredu  
  
Representatives of the world's poorest countries say they support the Bank's efforts, but complain that debt relief efforts are already slowing down. They express concern that new conditions might cause further delays in aid. 

Ghana's Finance Minister Kwadwo Baah Wiredu says industrialized nations need to fulfill⁴ promises made last year to double aid to poor countries.

"We all noted⁵ that there has been slow delivery of the pledges and there's little increase also in the amounts of aid to our countries…. There have been a lot of delays and little acceleration⁶ of aid to good-performing but under-aided countries.  And also little acceleration of flows to fragile state(s)," Wiredu says.

Wiredu said more should be spent on infrastructure⁷ development in poor nations rather than on foreign experts visiting the countries and giving advice.

Indonesian Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati says the era of dispatching teams of experts from Washington to quickly diagnose problems and prescribe solutions is over.

"We need more people on the ground who can work with us side by side at our pace, meeting our deadline, and facing our pressure. Act as a partner, not preachers," Indrawati says.

Indrawati says if the World Bank wants countries to be open to corruption investigations⁸ it should be more open. Developing countries have been lobbying for more say in World Bank and IMF decision-making. 

The IMF passed internal reforms Monday giving more voting rights to China, Turkey, Mexico, and South Korea to better reflect the economic power of those countries. Argentina, Brazil, Egypt and India were among a minority of countries that opposed the limited increase in voting shares. 

Indian Finance Minister Chidambaram said he would have much rather seen all countries have their quotas⁹ re-assessed all at once. He says the two-stage process the IMF members approved is a "hopelessly flawed formula."

"The two-stage process will mean that some developing countries will be asked to yield a portion of their quotas in favor of some other developing countries…. Let me say that the 23 countries, many of them large, emerging and well-performing economies that voted against the resolution may have lost the vote but have not lost the argument," Chidambaram said.

Rodrigo de Rato   
  
Chidambaram says the second stage of reforms, to be negotiated by 2008, should accurately¹⁰ reflect the influence of all the IMF's members.  He told the annual meeting the credibility and legitimacy¹¹ of the IMF is at stake.

IMF chief Rodrigo de Rato has pledged that reforms will go further and said the organization would remain true to its multilateral framework.

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 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。

3 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

4 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 acceleration   

n.加速，加速度

参考例句：

• All spacemen must be able to bear acceleration.所有太空人都应能承受加速度。
• He has also called for an acceleration of political reforms.他同时呼吁加快政治改革的步伐。

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

9 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

10 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

11 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。