VOA慢速英语 2008 1010a

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

This week, economic worries turned from inflation. On Wednesday, central banks in nations around the world acted together to lower interest rates. The fear is that a lack of credit and falling demand could cause a deep, worldwide recession.

The International Monetary¹ Fund has warned that the world is facing its most dangerous economic crisis since the nineteen thirties.
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Speaking in Washington, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Tuesday of slowing economic growth

To fight slowing economic growth, the United States Federal Reserve cut its federal funds rate to one and one half percent. That is the rate banks charge each other for overnight loans. The European Central Bank also announced an interest rate cut. So did central banks in Britain, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland. Australia and China also cut interest rates.

The action marked the first time that the Federal Reserve has joined with other central banks to cut interest rates.

Tuesday, the Fed said it will make short-term loans by purchasing what is called commercial paper. Such loans usually come from pools, or collections, of investment money. The goal is to provide financial help to all companies that need short-term loans to operate. Earlier, the central bank announced loans to banks of up to nine hundred billion dollars.

European countries are also taking steps to deal with the crisis. The Economist² magazine reports that European banks have borrowed more against their bank deposits than American banks have. This puts them at greater risk when there are low levels of activity in credit markets.

Iceland is an example. Its banks borrowed many times the amount of money they held in deposits. In recent weeks, Iceland has had to seize three major banks. The nation has asked for a loan of more than five billion dollars from Russia to avoid a collapse of its financial system.

Other countries have taken steps to keep people from withdrawing money from banks. Ireland, Germany and Britain increased the limit of bank deposits guaranteed by their governments.

And, the British government has announced a rescue plan similar to the one passed by the United States Congress. Britain will make eighty-seven billion dollars available to eight major banks. It will also provide hundreds of billions of dollars in loans and guarantees to the banking⁴ system.

And, that is the VOA Special English ECONOMICS REPORT, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

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 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。

3 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

4 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。