VOA标准英语2010年-International Monetary Fund Debates In

The 24-member board of the IMF approves billions of dollars in loans for countries hit by the global financial crisis.

A third of its seats are held by European countries, including small ones like Belgium and the Netherlands.

But that's expected to end.

The IMF is committed to broadening the influence of the developing countries on the board, with Europe under pressure to give some of its seats to other countries.

Soren Ambrose is the development finance coordinator¹ for ActionAid International.

 

IMF
He says originally, the executive board had only 20 members, and an agreement to keep the number at 24 has to be renewed every two years. The US says it will not agree to a renewal² unless the Europeans agree to change their representation on the board.

If a decision is not made by the end of October, the board could become smaller.

"If no action is taken," he says, "we would lose four seats on the board automatically, the four smallest in terms of voting power– India, Brazil and Argentina. [They're], all members of the G20, who have reasons to say they are important and need representation on the board.

"The fourth on the board belongs to 23 sub-Saharan African countries, and it would be unwise for the IMF to exclude African countries which have been taking out loans most consistently for last 30 years.

Reforms would likely favor middle-income countries like Turkey and the Philippines and not the poorest of the poor. That's because, he says, votes on the IMF board are apportioned³ according to a country's "relative weight" in the global economy.  In his view, the least developed countries of the world have a meager⁴ voice on the board and could even have that diluted⁵ by future reforms. Middle income countries currently on the 24-member board include Thailand, Egypt, Iran and India.

 

IMF/ Stephen Jaffe
Members of the media ask questions to International Monetary⁶ Fund's Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
He says ActionAid would rather see voting weight based on a country's population and on the support they've provided the IMF through repayments⁷ of loans.

"The reason we say [a revised board should] take loans into account," he says, "is that for many years, the IMF survived on the repayments being made by (developing) countries taking out loans. So if they were to get credit for all they've paid in like interest payments and so on, that would increase their voice."

Also up for discussion are improvements in loans to the developing countries and the anticipated introduction of what's being called a Global Stabilization⁸ Mechanism⁹, which would make large amounts of money available on short notice to a number of countries at once in the case of a pending¹⁰ global economic collapse¹¹.

"It would be collective action backed by board of the IMF," says Ambrose, "and, by doing many countries at once, try to restore confidence in entire system. It means the IMF is not trying to [publicly] identify a country's weaknesses, acting¹² like a credit rating agency, but instead be a more systemic fixer of the entire global economy."

Participants are also expected to discuss ways of boosting growth.

Some countries are trying to boost growth by devaluing their currency, thus making their exports cheaper. IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warns that a race to lower exchange rates could destabilize the world economy.

 

IMF/ Stephen Jaffe
International Monetary Fund's Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn warns against a race to devalue currencies
Participants will also discuss whether the international community should boost economic growth by continuing to spend tax payer funds to stimulate¹³ their economies and provide jobs, or whether they should promote private sector¹⁴ growth by cutting spending and paying off debt.

Ambrose says the decision will ultimately affect developing countries.

"They rely on demand coming from the richer countries for the products they export," he explains.

"If the [developed] economies are slowing down and there's not as many people working and consuming, then they are not buying the coffee, the cotton for their clothing from poorer countries, and the prices for the commodities go down. That's what affects Africa, Latin America and Asia."

New ideas could emerge through some of the week's lectures and panel discussions. Among them are ways to jump-start job creation and a look at some of the challenges facing emerging market economies.

Ambrose says it's not clear if any consensus¹⁵ will emerge from the meetings. If not, he says, the debate on many of the issues, including reforms of the IMF governance board, will continue in November at the meeting of G20 in Seoul, South Korea.
 

1 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

2 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

3 apportioned   

vt.分摊，分配（apportion的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• They apportioned the land among members of the family. 他们把土地分给了家中各人。
• The group leader apportioned them the duties for the week. 组长给他们分派了这星期的任务。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 meager   

adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的

参考例句：

• He could not support his family on his meager salary.他靠微薄的工资无法养家。
• The two men and the woman grouped about the fire and began their meager meal.两个男人同一个女人围着火，开始吃起少得可怜的午饭。

5 diluted   

无力的，冲淡的

参考例句：

• The paint can be diluted with water to make a lighter shade. 这颜料可用水稀释以使色度淡一些。
• This pesticide is diluted with water and applied directly to the fields. 这种杀虫剂用水稀释后直接施用在田里。

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 repayments   

偿还，报答，偿付的钱物( repayment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The repayments of the loan are spread over 10 years. 贷款可在十年内分期偿还。
• The repayments of the loan are spread over 25 years. 这笔贷款分摊二十五年偿还。

8 Stabilization   

稳定化

参考例句：

• The position of barycentre on plane directly impacts the stabilization and manipulation of plane. 飞机重心位置直接影响飞机的稳定和操纵特性。
• With the higher olefins, stabilization of the energetic intermediates occurs more easily. 在较高的烯烃情况下，高能的中间物稳定作用更易出现。

9 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

10 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

11 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。

12 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

13 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

14 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。

15 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？