2019年经济学人 第二十二条军规(1)

 

Familiarity, they say, breeds contempt. Few countries are as familiar with the IMF as Pakistan,

他们说熟悉会滋生轻视。很少有国家像巴基斯坦这样熟悉国际货币基金组织（IMF）

which has previously¹ obtained 21 loans from the fund, as many as Argentina.

巴基斯坦之前从IMF获得了21笔贷款，和阿根廷一样多。

On May 12th this familiarity deepened further.

5月12日，这种熟悉进一步深化。

The government, led by Imran Khan, a former cricketer who heads the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party,

由巴基斯安正义运动党领袖，前板球运动员伊姆兰·汗领导的政府表示

said it had reached a deal to borrow $6bn more over three years.

已达成协议，将在未来三年再借60亿美元。

The agreement now awaits formal approval from the fund's bosses in Washington

该协议现在正等待着华盛顿总部总裁的批准

and the support of other international lenders, including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

以及世界银行和亚洲开发银行等其他国际银行的支持。

The loan will relieve Pakistan's dollar shortage but do little to improve the IMF's standing² in the country.

这笔贷款将缓解巴基斯坦的美元短缺，但无助于改善IMF在该国的地位。

In return for its money, the fund expects the government to raise tax revenues and utility prices,

作为回报，IMF希望该国政府增加税收，提高公共设施价格，

impose discipline on provincial³ spending— and let the currency fall, if need be.

对省级支出实施纪律约束 —— 如果需要的话，让货币贬值。

That will help narrow Pakistan's wide trade and budget deficits⁴.

这将帮助缩小巴基斯坦广泛的贸易和预算赤字。

But it will also curb⁶ growth and increase inflation in the short term.

但也将在短期内抑制增长，加剧通胀。

Targets include cutting the budget deficit⁵ (before interest payments)

目标包括在下一财政年度（从7月开始）

to 0.6% of GDP next fiscal⁷ year (which starts in July) from the 1.9% that the IMF reportedly expects for this year.

将预算赤字从国际货币基金组织今年预计的1.9%削减到GDP的0.6%。

The government has talked about removing tax breaks worth about 350bn rupees ($2.5bn or 1% of GDP)

政府已讨论取消价值3500亿卢比（25亿美元或GDP的1%）的税收优惠

and raising the price of gas and electricity for large consumers.

并提高大用户使用天然气和电力的价格。

It has pledged to give the central bank more autonomy in its fight against inflation, currently over 8%.

政府承诺给中央银行更多自主权来抵抗通货膨胀，目前通货膨胀超过8%。

It will also let market forces dictate⁸ the rupee's exchange rate, which has been devalued by 18% against the dollar in the past year.

其还将让市场力量主导卢比汇率，在过去一年中，卢比对美元已贬值18%。

To ease the public's pain, the IMF will allow more spending on welfare schemes,

为了缓解公众的痛苦，IMF将允许在福利项目中有更多支出，

such as a cash-transfer programme named after Benazir Bhutto, a former prime minister who was assassinated⁹ in 2007.

比如以前总理贝娜齐尔·布托的名字命名的现金转移项目，贝娜齐尔·布托在2007年遭到暗杀。

But her son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who now leads her party in opposition¹⁰, seems unimpressed.

但是她的儿子，反对党领袖比拉瓦尔·布托·扎尔达里似乎对此无动于衷。

After the government this month appointed a former IMF official to head the central bank,

本月该国政府任命一名前IMF官员担任央行行长后，

Mr Bhutto Zardari accused it of surrendering Pakistan's autonomy. "How can IMF negotiate with IMF?" he asked.

布托·扎尔达里指责政府放弃了巴基斯坦的自治权。“IMF怎么能够和IMF谈判呢？”他问道。

A cartoon in the Friday Times, a local news weekly, showed Christine Lagarde, head of the fund, negotiating with herself.

当地新闻周刊《星期五泰晤士报》刊登的一幅漫画中，IMF总裁克里斯蒂娜·拉加德正在与自己谈判。

1 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

2 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。

3 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

4 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

5 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

6 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

7 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

8 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

9 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

10 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。