2020年经济学人 印度金融炼金术(1)

In times of trouble, jewellery turns from ornament¹ to collateral²

在困难时期，珠宝会从装饰品变成抵押品

Closing time for the Kondapur branch of Muthoot Finance, in Hyderabad, is usually 5.30pm on a Monday.

穆特胡特金融公司位于海得拉巴的康达普尔分公司周一的下班时间通常是在下午五点半。

But on August 10th it was only two hours later that the manager, Haripuri Padmavati, and her five colleagues, could shut the doors.

但8月10日，开门仅两个小时后，公司经理Haripuri Padmavati和她的五位同事就关上了门。

More than 150 customers had visited the gold-backed lender, six times as many as on a Monday before covid-19.

超过150名客户来访了该家以黄金为为担保的公司，是新冠疫情开始前周一客户数量的六倍。

Among the borrowers were those caring for infected family members;

借款人中有那些照顾被感染家庭成员的人；

those who had lost their jobs but had big bills, such as school fees, to settle; and business owners needing to pay creditors³ and employees.

有那些丢了工作，却有大笔账单（如学费）需要结算的人；以及那些需要支付债权人以及员工的公司老板。

The average loan size was 50,000 rupees ($700).

平均贷款金额为5万卢比（即700美元）。

The pandemic has meant huge uncertainty⁴ about banks' loan losses. Business at Muthoot, though, is booming.

疫情意味着银行贷款损失的巨大不确定性。不过，穆特胡特金融公司的业务却在繁荣发展。

Loans are extended for a year in exchange for collateral in the form of gold—

贷款被延期一年，以换取黄金形式的抵押品——

usually a bangle or necklace of the sort that lights up Indian weddings. The entire lending process usually takes 15 minutes.

通常是点亮印度婚礼的一个手镯或项链。整个借款过程通常为15分钟。

Jewellery is weighed, then scratched on a small square stone. Acid and salt are applied⁵ to the scratch, to test purity; 5 to 10% of items fail.

先给珠宝称重，然后在一块小型方形石头上划过，这一步骤中需要用到酸和盐，以检测黄金的纯度；5到10%的物品没能通过检测。

With experience, says George Alexander Muthoot, the company's managing director, you can tell by touch.

有经验的话，公司总经理George Alexander Muthoot说到，你通过触感就能辨别。

In a video call with your correspondent, he demonstrates by putting a chain in his palm,

在与记者的视频通话中，他进行了展示：他将一条链子放在手掌中，

flopping⁶ his hand to the left and right, and then opening up his fingers with a nod and a smile: appraisal⁷ done.

左右晃动，然后张开手指，点头微笑：评估完成。

1 ornament   

v.装饰，美化；n.装饰，装饰物

参考例句：

• The flowers were put on the table for ornament.花放在桌子上做装饰用。
• She wears a crystal ornament on her chest.她的前胸戴了一个水晶饰品。

2 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。

3 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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。

5 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

6 flopping   

n.贬调v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的现在分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• The fish are still flopping about. 鱼还在扑腾。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• What do you mean by flopping yourself down and praying agin me?' 咚一声跪下地来咒我，你这是什么意思” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

7 appraisal   

n.对…作出的评价；评价，鉴定，评估

参考例句：

• What's your appraisal of the situation?你对局势是如何评估的？
• We need to make a proper appraisal of his work.对于他的工作我们需要做出适当的评价。