VOA慢速英语--土耳其的经济政策导致其货币贬值

 Turkey’s Economic Policies Cause Its Money’s Value to Drop

The value of Turkish money, called the lira, hit another historic¹ low compared to the U.S. dollar on Tuesday.

Among the reasons for the drop is that currency traders are concerned that the Turkish economy is growing too quickly.

With elections coming soon, the government is pushing economic growth. Currently² growth is over seven percent. That makes Turkey one of the fastest-growing economies.

But international investors³ are becoming more worried about the cost of such growth. Turkey has inflation⁴ of over 10 percent. The country also is importing more goods than it exports leading to an increasing trade deficit⁵, or current account deficit.

"Investors are disappointed by the fact the government is pushing growth even faster,” said economist⁶ Inan Demir of Nomura Holdings. He added that most investors believe the government should be trying to lower inflation and the current account deficit.

"Some people say this: 'Too much growth is not a good thing,'" Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech Monday in an answer to critics. "Why? Because they are jealous. It is nothing else," he said.

In another move to grow the economy, Erdogan announced $34 billion in new economic programs. Much of Turkey's growth has come from billions of dollars in government spending.

Erdogan challenged international financial markets by restating his strong opposition⁷ to increasing interest rates. Often central banks increase interest rates to keep the exchange value of a currency from falling.

Without an increase in interest rates, the lira will continue to depreciate⁸, and the value of the lira will be set by international investors, Demir said.

Since the start of the year, the exchange value of the lira has fallen over seven percent compared to the dollar.

Last week, the lira fell sharply⁹ after reports that Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek had resigned after an angry telephone call with Erdogan over interest rate policy.

Simsek is responsible for the economy. Experts say he is important in keeping the confidence of financial markets in Turkey because he formerly¹⁰ worked for the investment bank Goldman Sachs. Some in Ankara say Simsek later agreed to stay in his job after heavy government pressure.

But with presidential and general elections upcoming in 2019, a growing economy is important to Erdogan and his ruling AKP Party's re-election chances.

Abdulkadir Selvi is a writer and presidential expert for the Hurriyet newspaper. Earlier this week, he wrote, "He [Erdogan] knows the way to win the election is by improving the economic situation." Selvi added, "That is why he declared 2018 as the year of performance, growth and employment."

Market expert Atilla Yesilada is with the business support company Global Source Partners. He said Erdogan’s party has nothing but economic growth to offer after abandoning human rights and modern democracy. Without economic growth measures, the economy will slow and they will not win re-election, he said.

But a falling currency brings other economic risks. Experts warn that sharp currency decreases usually hurt consumer confidence and lead to less spending on goods and services. That causes economic growth to slow.

A greater threat faced by Turkey is debt.

Two of Turkey’s largest companies have been seeking to re-organize $12 billion in bank loans. International investors are watching Turkish banks. They want to know about the quality of loans they have provided and whether borrowers are still making payments.

Yesilada explained that the government, the banks and the companies agree that the system must continue, so nobody will declare that there is a problem.

Turkish bank stocks continue to lose value and are now at their lowest level in nine years. However, most experts believe that the banking¹¹ system is still strong.

But some market experts warn that banks may reduce their lending in the future. Such a move would likely affect growth.

Demir said Erdogan and his government's push for growth could end in failure. He said that if investors continue to sell the Turkish lira, it will hurt companies that have loans, forcing them to cut back on workers and investment, and that will lead to much slower growth.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

disappoint – v. to make (someone) unhappy by not being as good as expected or by not doing something that was hoped for or expected

jealous – adj. feeling or showing an unhappy or angry desire to have what someone else has

challenge – v. something that causes something else to happen, develop, or become more active

currency – n. the money that a country use

depreciate –v. to lose value

confidence – n. a feeling or belief that you can do something well or succeed at something

abandon – v. to leave and never return to

consumer – n. one who buys things

1 historic   

adj.历史上著名的，具有历史意义的

参考例句：

• This is a historic occasion.这是具有重大历史意义的时刻。
• We are living in a great historic era.我们正处在一个伟大的历史时代。

2 currently   

adv.通常地，普遍地，当前

参考例句：

• Currently it is not possible to reconcile this conflicting evidence.当前还未有可能去解释这一矛盾的例证。
• Our contracts are currently under review.我们的合同正在复查。

3 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

4 inflation   

n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• The inflation of the airbed took several minutes.给空气床垫充气花了几分钟时间。

5 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

6 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。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 depreciate   

v.降价，贬值，折旧

参考例句：

• The computer value will depreciate by $ 500 in the first year.在头一年里这台电脑会贬值500美元。
• If you neglect this property,it will depreciate.如果你忽视这份资产，它无形中就贬值了。

9 sharply   

adj.锐利地，急速；adv.严厉地，鲜明地

参考例句：

• The plane dived sharply and rose again.飞机猛然俯冲而后又拉了起来。
• Demand for personal computers has risen sharply.对个人电脑的需求急剧增长。

10 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

11 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。