ECONOMICS REPORT - Deficits and the Dollar

ECONOMICS REPORT - Deficits² and the Dollar
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, November 19, 2004

This is Gwen Outen with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Last week the Commerce Department reported on the United States trade deficit¹ in September. The United States imported almost fifty-two thousand million dollars more in goods and services than it exported. The deficit remains³ very high. But it fell in September by almost four percent from the month before.

Imports decreased, while exports increased. Trade specialists say American exports should continue to increase as long as the dollar is weak. Basically, strong currencies help importers; weak currencies help exporters.

In Europe, there is concern about the added cost of European exports from the strength of the euro against the dollar. In the past week it took about one dollar and thirty cents to buy one euro.

In China, the situation is different. China links the value of its currency, the yuan, to the dollar. The set exchange rate keeps down the cost of Chinese exports. American competitors are not happy about this policy.

The trade deficit with China is expected to set a new record this year. It was over fifteen thousand million dollars in September alone. The second biggest deficit was with Japan, at six thousand million dollars.

Countries that have a trade surplus with the United States usually buy American government debt with the dollars they receive in payment. This way, they earn interest on their investment. Japan and China together own about one-fourth of the debt of the United States Treasury⁴.

Japan also buys a lot of Treasury debt with its own currency. This means there is a lot of yen⁵ on world currency markets. This keeps down the value of the yen, and the cost of Japanese exports.

Economists⁶ say the presence of a trade deficit does not mean that an economy is doing poorly. In fact, some say trade deficits are not very important. They are more concerned about record budget deficits in the United States.

These economists worry that too much American borrowing could harm the world economy. But other economists say world markets have enough to lend.

Treasury Secretary John Snow says cutting the budget deficit in half is a top goal of President Bush in his second term. Mister Snow also says the United States supports a strong dollar. Speaking Wednesday in London, he urged European countries to increase their economic growth more quickly.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter. This is Gwen Outen.

1 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。

2 deficits   

n.不足额( deficit的名词复数 )；赤字；亏空；亏损

参考例句：

• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Many of the world's farmers are also incurring economic deficits. 世界上许多农民还在遭受经济上的亏损。 来自辞典例句

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

5 yen   

n. 日元；热望

参考例句：

• He wanted to convert his dollars into Japanese yen.他想将美元换成日币。
• He has a yen to be alone in a boat.他渴望独自呆在一条船上。

6 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》