After another down session on the European markets, the talk is how long and deep the recession will be.
在美国和欧洲的股票市场星期一再次下滑之后，人们现在谈论更多的是这次经济衰退将会持续多长时间以及会有多么严重。
The European markets have had a lot to digest during the past few days. With Euro Zone growth grinding to a halt and further afield in places like Japan, where the economy has officially joined the ranks of countries in recession, optimism is in short supply.
这些天来，市场上有很多的东西需要消化。随著欧元区的经济陷入停滞，再加上日本等其他国家经济不是出轨就是衰退，人们很难感到乐观。
And that gloomy sentiment is evident in the downward trend in European trade.
这种信心低迷在欧美市场的下滑趋势中表现得非常明显。
Despite the mood, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, back in London after last weekend's G-20 economic summit in Washington, says the way out of this global problem is a coordinated global approach.
尽管存在这种情绪，上个周末在华盛顿参加了20国集团经济峰会之后回到伦敦的英国首相布朗说，全球采取协调一致的行动是摆脱这个全球性问题的途径。
"The managing director of the International Monetary Fund has joined many other people today in calling for a fiscal stimulus," Brown said. "A fiscal stimulus means helping families and helping businesses now through this difficult position and as long as you have, as we will have, a medium-term framework for fiscal sustainability, then this is the right thing to do facing the downturn. It is right, as now almost everybody accepts across the world and every country is now looking at this, that we help people through these difficult times."
他说：“国际货币基金组织总裁今天同很多其他人一道，呼吁采取财政刺激措施。财政刺激意味著帮助家庭和企业渡过目前的难关。只要你有一个保持财政持续性的中期框架，那么这就是在经济滑坡时应该做的事情。现在世界上几乎每个人都接受这种做法，而且每一个国家现在都在研究这样做的可能性。我们帮助人们渡过这个艰难的时期是正确的。”
IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn says the body is likely to need at least $100 billion of additional funding during the next half year if it is to play a larger role in aiding a global economic recovery.
国际货币基金组织总干事斯特劳斯-卡恩说，如果国际货币基金组织在为全球经济复苏方面要发挥更大的作用，那么在今后半年的时间里，该机构可能至少需要1千亿美元的额外资金。
But 2009 promises to be a financially difficult year around the world and in Britain, like elsewhere, that means further economic pain.
但是对于全球来说，2009年看来将是一个金融上非常困难的一年。对于英国和其他国家来说，这意味著会出现更多经济上的阵痛。
Britain's largest business lobbying group, the Confederation of British Industry warned rising British unemployment levels will probably peak toward the end of next year. CBI Chief Economic advisor Ian McCafferty says it will be a tough time.
英国最大的商业游说团体英国工业联合会警告说，英国日益上升的失业率可能在明年年底达到高峰。该机构的首席经济顾问麦克卡弗蒂说，到时候，情况将非常艰难。
"We are currently seeing the fastest rises for some 17 years and I think we believe that we will see two million [unemployed] by the end of this year," McCafferty said, "and by the time we see the end of 2009 or early 2010, it will have peaked out at not far short of three million. So that is rising (at) eight or nine percent of the workforce. So, that is a significant increase from where we have been in recent years."
他说：“我们目前看到的是17年来失业上升最快的。我们认为，在今年年底，失业人数会达到2百万。到2009年底或是2010年初，失业率会达到接近3百万的高峰。这就是说，失业率会上升到占劳动力的8%或是9%。这要大大高于最近几年我们所看到的失业率。”
Going hand in hand with the rising unemployment trend, the CBI predicts Britain's GDP will show its sharpest fall since 1991 as well.
英国工业联合会还预计，与不断上升的失业率联系在一起的是，英国的国内生产总值也将出现自1991年以来最急剧的下滑。 |