美国和欧州多家央行星期三同时宣布降息0.5个百分点。这次协调一致的行动主要是为了稳定全球经济和提振股市。

　　The half-a-point lending rate cut was coordinated between the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, and the Banks of Canada, Sweden, Switzerland and England.

　　美联储、欧洲央行、加拿大、瑞典、瑞士和英国央行联合宣布降息0.5个百分点。

　　China also made a cut of just over a quarter of a point and the Bank of Japan strongly expressed its support for the coordinated international move.

　　中国央行也宣布下调基准存贷款利率各27个基点。日本央行则对多家央行的协调行动表示欢迎。

　　In Britain, a Bank of England cut was anticipated, but that was not supposed to happen until Thursday.

　　在英国，英格兰银行降息是意料之中的举措。但此之前，人们预计英格兰银行要等到周四宣布这个消息。

　　Speaking in the House of Commons, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the move was highly significant.

　　首相戈登·布朗说，这是个重要行动。

　　"The coordinated cut in interest rates is an important signal that the world will come together to deal with this economic problem and I believe that it has come at the right time to show that the action that we are taking and the action that the Americans are taking and the action taken in other countries in Europe is action that is designed to together solve the problem that we face," said Brown.

　　“多家央行联合降息表明各国合作处理经济问题的意愿。我相信，这个决定作出的时间是恰当的。这显示出我们的行动，美国的行动，以及其它欧洲国家的行动志在齐心协力解决目前的问题。”

　　Building on this international coordination the prime minister said, was very important. He said during the next couple of days accounting standards will be discussed among G7 members, an IMF meeting is scheduled for Saturday and he hoped that an international leaders' meeting on the economic crisis could be held soon.

　　布朗说多国联合降息为今后的行动奠定了重要基础。他说，在未来几天里，工业化7国会议将讨论会计标准问题，国际货币基金组织将在本星期六举行会议。此外，布朗希望全球领袖在近期举行峰会讨论经济危机。

　　"We need to have responsibility and integrity at the heart of the global financial system," he said. "We need a global early warning system and cooperation among regulators that to be frank, we in Britain have tried for for years, but have not been able to persuade other countries to support and we will continue to seek coordinated action on economic policy."

　　“我们需要在全球金融体系的核心建立责任制和整体性。我们需要建立全球早期预警机制。监管机构应该加强合作。坦率地说，英国很多年来试图设立这一机制，但我们没能劝说其它国家支持这个机制。我们将继续寻求在经济政策上采取协调行动。”

　　The interest-rate announcement was made just after the British government disclosed its own $87.5 bank-rescue plan.

　　多国央行宣布联合降息之前，英国政府宣布了一项875亿美元的银行救助计划。

　　The lending rate cut managed to pull the major European markets out of the steep declines seen early in Wednesday's trade and some of that lost value was regained in later trading.

　　联合降息宣布后，主要欧洲股市星期三开盘后的下滑得到了逆转。交易日晚些时候，部分失地被收复。