VOA标准英语2014--World Bank Says Global Economy at Turning Point 世界银行说全球经济迎来加速增长的转折点

 

World Bank Says Global Economy at Turning Point 世界银行说全球经济迎来加速增长的转折点

WASHINGTON — The global recovery is gaining momentum¹ according to new projections² by the World Bank.  But unlike previous years, the World Bank says growth in 2014 is likely to be driven in large part by high income countries.

Five years after the financial crisis - the World Bank says the global economy has reached a turning point - this time, led by advanced economies.  That’s especially true of the United States, says Andrew Burns, lead author of the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects³. 

“For the first time in five years, high income countries are accelerating. They’re going to be contributing to global growth in a way that they haven’t for some time.  That’s going to be good for developing countries,” says Burns.

The World Bank projects the U.S. economy will expand from 1.8 percent last year to about 2.8 percent in 2014.  Bank chief economist⁴ Kaushik Basu expects a similar story in Europe which emerged from recession last year.

“The latest estimates show Europe grew by minus 0.4 percent, but we expect this to turn positive, gently positive - 1.1 is not huge growth but given Europe’s difficulties over the last six years, this is indeed good news,” says Basu.

Although political instability continues to pose downside risks for parts of North Africa and the Middle East, the biggest question mark remains⁵ the impact of the U.S. central bank’s decision to scale back monetary⁶ stimulus⁷. 

But Basu says the effects are likely to be mild because many countries started feeling the impact of higher interest rates after the Fed signaled its intentions by the middle of 2013.

“We saw that in South Africa, in Indonesia, in India, where the exchange rate was crashing around.  So I feel actually, at one level, a lot of the adjustment has already taken place.  So when the tapering⁸ actually began as it now has from 85 billion dollars a month to 75 - it’s actually not having that much of an effect because part of the effect has already taken place,” says Basu.

Growth in China, still the world’s fastest growing economy, is expected to remain steady at 7.7 percent.

 

But Basu says he is most excited about prospects for the sub-Saharan regions of Africa - projected to grow 5.3 percent in 2014.

1 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

2 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

3 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 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。

7 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

8 tapering   

adj.尖端细的

参考例句：

• Interest in the scandal seems to be tapering off. 人们对那件丑闻的兴趣似乎越来越小了。
• Nonproductive expenditures keep tapering down. 非生产性开支一直在下降。