VOA标准英语2010年-Focus on the Little Guy Could Boost Is

Indonesia's central bank has recently embraced new regulations for Islamic banking¹, which it sees as key to building on last year's strong economic growth. In a country that is home to more than 200 million Muslims, the potential for expansion is enormous, although Islamic finance still accounts for a small part of the country's financial market.

Over the past six years Islamic banking has averaged 36 percent annual growth in Indonesia. But its $7 billion in assets makes up only 2.5 percent of the country's total banking sector².

Banking analysts³ say unclear regulations on banking that conforms to Islamic law and pervasive⁴ corruption⁵ have kept investors⁶ away from Indonesia.

The central bank, Bank Indonesia, wants that to change. It has drafted a blueprint⁷ that includes expanding Islamic lending to small and medium-sized enterprises, scrapping⁸ a tax law that imposes extra costs on Islamic banking transactions and improving risk management.

Under Islamic, or Sharia, law, charging or paying interest is banned, as are investment in businesses that Islam finds unacceptable, such as liquor companies.

Some financial experts say Islamic banking principles, which limit the use of sophisticated derivatives⁹ and require transactions to be backed by real assets, could prevent the excessive leverage¹⁰ that undermined the global financial system two years ago.

Bank Indonesia senior bank researcher Dadang Muljawan says those characteristics helped convince the government to develop its dual-banking system. "The Islamic bank can survive very well the economic crisis. This is maybe what has been seen by the Indonesian government as an opportunity …. If we have two systems that can work together and then if one goes bust¹¹ - I hope not - the other one can sustain," he says.

That does not negate¹² the need for better supervision¹³. The system still requires proper supervision. "Jokingly we sometimes say that we can't say Islamic banks are too holy to fail … it's not the magic word," he says.

Bank Indonesia expects more banks to enter the Islamic market after April, when the new tax law takes effect. Research head Dhani Gunawan says the central bank also hopes to draw in foreign investors to increase the funds available for infrastructure¹⁴ projects and for small and medium-sized businesses. "Islamic banks are focused on small and micro-financing, more close(ly) with real sector financing, so it will support the economy," he says.

If Indonesia is to meet the central bank's goal of seeing Islamic banking account for 10 percent of the market by 2015, it will have to look for high-profile investors, especially in China and the Middle East.

But Dadang says Islamic banks in the country need to focus on the small customers. "We have to also give sufficient attention to micro-finance. Why? Because well, maybe 40 percent of the Indonesian community will still need financial services - capital, bank financing. Most of them are still unbankable (can not access banks), they have the potential to produce something, but they need capital for them to be more efficient, to start a business," he says.

This is where domestic banks can help. B.S. Kusmuljono is a bank executive and chairman of the national committee for microfinance empowerment. He wants to expand an existing system that extends up to $500 in credit to small entrepreneurs, mostly farmers looking to develop their production. "Our aim now is to eradicate¹⁵ poverty and to train as many people as possible to be entrepreneurs. That means the borrower should have a capacity building process. He has to be educated to be a businessman," he says.

But that requires training and added oversight¹⁶ to monitor lending to more than 40 million business owners. Kusmuljono says that may be part of the reason Indonesia has not seen more growth in Islamic finance. "We see that the development is not what we expected 10 years ago. We thought it would grow rapidly. But we are optimistic that the Sharia banking will take an important role because most of the banks in Indonesia have a Sharia affiliate," he says.

Many conventional banks in Indonesia have opened Islamic banking units, as a way to enter the market.

For now, the focus will remain on building small and medium-sized businesses in the financial sector. But there is hope that improved regulations and new government measures could see Indonesia grab a bigger slice of what the central bank says is a $900 billion global market for Islamic banking.

 

1 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。

2 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。

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

7 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

8 scrapping   

刮，切除坯体余泥

参考例句：

• He was always scrapping at school. 他在学校总打架。
• These two dogs are always scrapping. 这两条狗总是打架。

9 derivatives   

n.衍生性金融商品；派生物，引出物( derivative的名词复数 )；导数

参考例句：

• Many English words are derivatives of Latin words. 许多英语词来自拉丁语。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• These compounds are nitrosohydroxylamine derivatives. 这类合成物是亚硝基羟胺衍生物。 来自辞典例句

10 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

11 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

12 negate   

vt.否定，否认；取消，使无效

参考例句：

• Our actions often negate our principles.我们的行为时常与我们所信奉的原则背道而弛。
• Mass advertising could negate the classical theory of supply and demand.大宗广告可以否定古典经济学的供求理论。

13 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

14 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

15 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

16 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。