美国国家公共电台 NPR--Bolivia's banking issues are not tied to recent U.S. or Swiss turmoil

Bolivia's banking¹ issues are not tied to recent U.S. or Swiss turmoil²

Transcript³

Bolivians are lining⁴ up for dollars, as their country's foreign reserves are drained and their debt is downgraded to junk status.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

This next story is about another bank run in South America, in Bolivia. The banking problems there are particular to that country's economy and not tied to any of the recent turmoil in the U.S. or Switzerland. NPR's Carrie Kahn has this report.

CARRIE KAHN, BYLINE⁵: An official with Bolivia's central bank walks the long line stretching three downtown blocks in La Paz. "How many dollars will you take?" she asks the worried customers.

LUISA ZAPATA: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: Luisa Zapata says she needs $6,000. A debt has now come due. There have been long lines at banks and exchange houses for weeks as foreign reserves in the Andean nation have nosedived. Zapata spent the night in this line.

ZAPATA: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: "It was really cold. I didn't have anything good to sleep on. And in the morning, it rained. And I got soaked," she says.

(CROSSTALK)

KAHN: Frustrations⁶ erupt when the bank official tells everyone the doors are closing and to try back later. Zapata says, now what? The man she owes wants his dollars now.

ZAPATA: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: "He's pressuring me. He won't leave me alone," she says. The current crisis is a far cry from the boom years, when Bolivia's foreign reserves were flush thanks to a large supply of natural gas. For nearly 20 years, the previous government of leftist Evo Morales and his party's successor used dollars to keep the exchange rate fixed⁷ and the economy stable, says Eduardo Gamarra of Florida International University.

EDUARDO GAMARRA: Not only were they using them to support the dollar, but they were using it for public investment, stimulating⁸ the economy so that it would grow, right? And especially after COVID, that worked. But it's unsustainable.

KAHN: Now natural gas reserves are drying up. And the cost of imports are high due to the Ukraine war. Bolivia's dollar accounts have shriveled from 15,000,000,000 in 2014 to around 3 billion now. Last week, the rating agency Fitch downgraded Bolivia's debt further into junk territory. Bolivia's finance minister, Marcelo Montenegro, took to state-run TV on Sunday to calm fears.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MARCELO MONTENEGRO: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: "The economic outlook is stable," he said. "If it wasn't, then bread prices and transportation costs would be soaring," he added. But the government controls prices, keeping both low, says Bolivian economist⁹ Roberto Laserna. He says it's unclear how much longer, though, they can keep it up.

ROBERTO LASERNA: That, of course, will have a huge political cost because once the price of gasoline goes up, the price of transportation will go up. And every good, every service will go up as well.

KAHN: On the same day the finance minister insisted all was well, former President Evo Morales publicly disagreed.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

EVO MORALES: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: Morales told a group of party faithful things are not well economically. More state spending on the poor and elderly is the answer, he added.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MORALES: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: But 42-year-old Marielle Cauthin needs help now - to the tune¹⁰ of $20,000.

MARIELLE CAUTHIN: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: "I've tried at exchanges houses. I waited seven hours at the central bank," she says. Like many in Bolivia, she has to pay her rent in dollars and two years up front.

CAUTHIN: (Non-English language spoken).

KAHN: "It's a big headache," she says. And she worries her country's banking troubles aren't going to get better anytime soon.

Carrie Kahn, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF KENO AND TRISTAN DE LIEGE'S "REVERRING")

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 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 frustrations   

挫折( frustration的名词复数 )； 失败； 挫败； 失意

参考例句：

• The temptation would grow to take out our frustrations on Saigon. 由于我们遭到挫折而要同西贡算帐的引诱力会增加。
• Aspirations will be raised, but so will frustrations. 人们会产生种种憧憬，但是种种挫折也会随之而来。

7 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

8 stimulating   

adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的

参考例句：

• shower gel containing plant extracts that have a stimulating effect on the skin 含有对皮肤有益的植物精华的沐浴凝胶
• This is a drug for stimulating nerves. 这是一种兴奋剂。

9 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

10 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。