VOA常速英语2008年-Bank of England to Improve System Liquidity

By Tom Rivers
London
21 April 2008

Britain's central bank, the Bank of England, has announced a plan aimed at preventing the unfolding international credit crisis from causing more damage to the British economy. Under the deal, lending institutions will be able to swap¹ currently held mortgage debt in exchange for secure government bonds. For VOA, Tom Rivers reports from London the lending boost could total about $100 billion, but could go even higher.

The infusion² of money is designed to boost confidence in Britain's financial markets.

Durng the past months, major British banks have been less willing to lend to each other and that has meant less money has been available in the mortgage sector³, which in turn has resulted in an overall consumer credit crunch⁴.

Under a new plan, the Bank of England will free up at least $100 billion to the lending institutions. The idea is to inject some liquidity⁵ back into the financial system and ease constrictions.

British Treasury⁶ Secretary Alistair Darling outlined the plan in parliament.

"The banks and building societies and other institutions that are eligible⁷ for the bank standing⁸ facility will be able to enter into agreements with the Bank of England, under which they exchange high quality asset backed securities for treasury bills," he said. "They can then hold these bills or trade them in the markets. Each exchange agreement will be for a maximum of a year, but can be renewed at the bank's discretion⁹ so that the exchange can ultimately be up for three years."

George Buckley, from Deutsche Bank in London, explains how it will work.

"What they are doing is using those government securities as collateral¹⁰ and they are going into the market and saying, please lend to us at a better rate than we could have got before, just simply because we have got better collateral than we did have before," he said.

It will take some time before the effects of the plan are actually seen, but Sue Anderson from the British Council of Mortgage Lenders says it should help to loosen up those currently tight credit markets.

"In theory, yes, this should have a beneficial impact and head us back towards a more normal market," she said.

Treasury Secretary Darling predicts the Bank of England move will help resolve problems in the wholesale¹¹ financial markets, which over time will also trickle¹² down to the retail¹³ level that is now seeing a downturn in activity as well.

Darling says the British financial system remains¹⁴ fundamentally strong, but the market is one that is not immune from the international downturn. He also urged banks to be more transparent¹⁵ and to fully¹⁶ disclose the extent of bad debt so that prudent¹⁷ action can be taken earlier to remove the uncertainty¹⁸ seen recently on the global markets.

1 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

2 infusion   

n.灌输

参考例句：

• Old families need an infusion of new blood from time to time.古老的家族需要不时地注入新鲜血液。
• Careful observation of the infusion site is necessary.必须仔细观察输液部位。

3 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 crunch   

n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声

参考例句：

• If it comes to the crunch they'll support us.关键时刻他们是会支持我们的。
• People who crunch nuts at the movies can be very annoying.看电影时嘎吱作声地嚼干果的人会使人十分讨厌。

5 liquidity   

n.流动性，偿债能力，流动资产

参考例句：

• The bank has progressively increased its liquidity.银行逐渐地增加其流动资产。
• The demand for and the supply of credit is closely linked to changes in liquidity.信用的供求和流动资金的变化有密切关系。

6 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

7 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

8 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

9 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

10 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

11 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

12 trickle   

vi.淌，滴，流出，慢慢移动，逐渐消散

参考例句：

• The stream has thinned down to a mere trickle.这条小河变成细流了。
• The flood of cars has now slowed to a trickle.汹涌的车流现在已经变得稀稀拉拉。

13 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

14 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。

15 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

16 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

17 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。

18 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。