East Timor hit by dollar woes

The television blares Chinese-language programmes across supermarket shelves stacked with noodles, bottles of bleach¹ and bags of rice.

 

Outside, in Dili's dusty commercial district（商业区）, the afternoon heat hangs limp and heavy.

Loh Bee Choon sits in the cool of the shop, making small talk with her scattering² of customers.

One by one, she tots up their purchases（采购）; the medical bleeping of the scanner marking her income, dollar by dollar.

Goods from Indonesia, China, Singapore, the US - but very few indeed from here in East Timor.

All of which makes a lot of sense, because not much is produced in East Timor. Imports are an essential part of life and 90% of goods come from overseas.

But with the US dollar - the official currency - worth less abroad now than it used to be, buying them is getting much more expensive.

"It's had a big effect," Loh Bee Choon said. "Because the value of the dollar has gone down, we've had to raise prices by around 20% to 30%."

If prices at the Loh supermarket go up by 20% or 30%, that has a huge impact （影响）on local people. There is no general social security system, and East Timor has no control over monetary³ policy.

When the dollar runs into trouble, as it has done recently, there is really nowhere the country's people can turn.

'Not enough'

Daniele da Conceicao knows exactly how that feels. He lives with his family in the backstreets of Dili.

Ten people live in the house, but Daniele is the only one earning.

His salary - around $85 (£43) a month - used to be just enough to feed and clothe everyone, send the children to school, and have a little bit left over. Now, he struggles just to buy enough to eat.

Last year, he said, $30 would buy two bags of rice - enough for the family for a month. Now it buys only one bag, which means almost three-quarters of his salary goes on rice each month.

He needs another $10 for kerosene（煤油） to cook it. Then there is transport to get to work and get the children to school, and some vegetables for dinner.

Then the money is more than gone. As Daniele puts it, "It's really far away from enough to sustain the family."

Energy fund

Joao Goncalves, East Timor's minister for economic development, acknowledges there is a problem.

People like Daniele are being hit twice, he says, once by the weak dollar and again by the high global prices of food and fuel.

The government's answer is to subsidise basic goods like food and fuel.

As Mr Goncalves explained, the plan - currently before parliament - is to subsidise essential basics like rice, corn and beans, and to stockpile a 12-month supply of these staples⁴ to ensure food security.

That may ease pressure on Daniele and his children in the short-term, but it is proving harder for some MPs and economists⁵ to swallow.

That is because the government plans to pay for the subsidies⁶ by taking $240m out of East Timor's Petroleum⁷ Fund.

The fund is the country's nest egg, built with energy revenues from a gas field in the Timor Sea.

Those revenues account for virtually all the country's income and each year, careful calculations are made to determine how much the government can sustainably siphon off for its budget each year.

Now, the government says it is time to dip into the savings⁸ themselves. Not doing so, it says, risks poverty turning to instability.

But its opponents say this kind of spending will dampen private enterprise, and leave East Timor with little to show for its money - and if the oil fund is drained, it risks leaving East Timor with no economic future at all. (本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 bleach   

vt.使漂白；vi.变白；n.漂白剂

参考例句：

• These products don't bleach the hair.这些产品不会使头发变白。
• Did you bleach this tablecloth?你把这块桌布漂白了吗？

2 scattering   

n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散

参考例句：

• The child felle into a rage and began scattering its toys about. 这孩子突发狂怒，把玩具扔得满地都是。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The farmers are scattering seed. 农夫们在播种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

5 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

8 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。