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India witnessed impressive economic growth for the fifth straight year in 2007. As the surging South Asian economy is attracting the attention of foreign and domestic investors¹.

南亚大国印度带着连续5年经济增长高速增长的成绩迈入了2008年。随着新的一年的开始，这个正在崛起的南亚经济大国更加引起国内外投资者的注意。

Signs of growing prosperity in urban India were easy to find as the New Year began - shoppers crowded up-market malls, and new highways were being constructed at a frantic² pace to accommodate the cars being snapped up by the middle class.

2008年新年伊始，印度的都市到处可见日益繁荣的景象。熙熙攘攘的购物中心挤满了购物的人们，新建的高速公路以惊人的速度在延伸，以满足中产阶级拥有的私家车的需要。

Analysts³ say economic growth in 2007 might be slightly slower than the previous year, but it will still be among the fastest in the world at around eight percent.

分析人士指出，印度2007年的经济增长或许比2006年有所放慢，但大约8%的增长率仍然是世界上增长最快的经济体之一。

D.H. Pai Panindiker, who heads an independent research group, the RPG Goenka Foundation, says the economy flourished, despite earlier fears that it was overheating.

RPG Geonka基金会的负责人帕伊.帕宁迪克说，尽管人们担心印度经济发展过热，但经济依然兴旺繁荣。

"I think, there is considerable optimism, particularly among the business community, that the economy is on sound footing, that consumer demand is expanding. 2008 should be a fairly good year," Pai Panindiker.

他说：“我觉得，人们还是相当乐观的，尤其是在商界。人们认为经济正健康稳步地发展，消费需求在不断扩大。2008年将是一个比较不错的好年景。”

In the first half of 2007, the central bank raised interest rates on concerns that a credit boom was fueling inflation. However, by year-end inflation had cooled, and a slowdown did not come to pass.

2007年上半年，因担心信贷扩张会引发通货膨胀，印度中央银行提高了利率。但是，到年底，通胀得到了缓和，而且经济发展并没有因此慢下来。

Foreign businesses and investors swarmed⁴ to cities such as Mumbai and Bangalore. Foreign investment last year is expected to total $30 billion.

外国公司和投资商纷纷进入孟买和班加罗尔等城市。去年的外国直接投资预计将达300亿美元。

Stock markets reflected the faith in the future of the economy. Share prices gained more than 40 percent in 2007. Mumbai's Sensex index closed the year at over 20,000 points.

股票市场反映着人们对经济未来的信心。2007年，印度股市猛涨了40%以上。孟买SENSEX指数2007年以2万多点作收。

The services and manufacturing sector⁵ led the growth. Confident Indian companies also began to move beyond the domestic market.

印度经济增长的引擎是服务业和制造业。信心十足的印度公司已经开始把目标从国内市场转向海外市场。

T.K. Bhaumik, an economist⁶ at India's biggest conglomerate⁷, Reliance Industries, says Indian companies invested nearly $50 billion in acquiring companies overseas.

印度最大的集团公司信实工业(Reliance Industries) 的经济学家包米克说，集团公司投资近500亿美元，兼并海外公司。

"All the big corporates are trying to expand their global operations, be a global player…. They think they are competent enough to operate globally. There is a lot of confidence," said Bhaumik.

他说：“所有大公司都在努力拓展他们的全球经营，成为一个全球化的参与者。他们认为有足够的能力进行全球化的经营。他们个个都信心百倍。”

But the optimism is tinged⁸ with caution. There are fears that the rupee's 15 percent appreciation⁹ against the dollar in 2007 could hurt the information technology sector and reduce exports.

但是人们在乐观的同时也不无谨慎小心。人们担心，2007年印度货币卢比兑美元升值15%，可能会伤害信息技术产业，减少印度的出口。

And there is little sign the economic boom is trickling¹⁰ down to impoverished¹¹ villages in many parts of the country. It is estimated that more than one-third of the country's one billion people still live on less than $2 a day. There are concerns that the rising disparity between booming cities and villages could trigger social discontent.

而且，几乎没有任何迹象显示，经济的繁荣正渐渐进入印度很多地方的乡村。据估计，印度10亿人口当中有超过三分之一的人生活在每天两美元的贫困线之下。人们担心，兴旺繁荣的城市和乡村之间日益扩大的差距，可能激发社会上的不满情绪。