VOA慢速英语2009-Economics Report - Global Recession Hits the Dev

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Both the World Bank and the International Monetary¹ Fund expect the world economy to shrink this year for the first time since World War Two. As recently as January, the I.M.F. had predicted growth of one-half percent. But this week its chief, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, said the world has entered what he called "a great recession."
　
A trader reacts last week to a fall in the value of South Korea's currency, the won

A new World Bank report says the recession may hurt the developing world the most. Those countries depend on trade for economic growth. But world trade is expected to fall at the fastest rate in eighty years.

East Asia has been hardest hit. In February, exports from China fell twenty-six percent from a year ago.

Rich nations are expected to borrow heavily in world credit markets to finance spending at home. But investors² are demanding very high returns if they are willing to lend to the developing world at all. Jeff Chelsky, a World Bank senior economist³, says investors are avoiding higher risk debt in a flight to quality.

The bank estimates that up to three trillion dollars of public and private loans in developing countries must be repaid this year. Some nations have enough foreign currency reserves, but others will struggle to find new financing to pay their existing debts.

The World Bank estimates that developing nations will need between two hundred seventy and seven hundred billion dollars in financing. The amount depends on the depth of the recession.

The I.M.F. is seeking to expand its lending ability. And World Bank President Robert Zoellick has called on rich nations to put some of their economic recovery spending into a crisis fund to help poor countries.

Bank economist Jeff Chelsky says the poorest countries are in the greatest danger. They cannot borrow in credit markets and they depend on exports of commodities like crops or minerals. But falling commodity prices mean they now depend more than ever on foreign aid.

Finance ministers and central bankers from major industrial and developing countries meet this weekend outside London to discuss the financial crisis. President Obama wants all countries in the Group of Twenty to coordinate⁴ their separate efforts to strengthen their economies.

There was some good news this week, including better-than-expected reports on spending by Americans in January and February. And financial stocks rose after Citigroup reported a profit for those two months.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

1 monetary   

adj.货币的，钱的；通货的；金融的；财政的

参考例句：

• The monetary system of some countries used to be based on gold.过去有些国家的货币制度是金本位制的。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

2 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

3 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。

4 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。