VOA常速英语2007年-World Bank: African Economies Turning a Corner

By Scott Bobb
Johannesburg
14 November 2007

The World Bank says economic growth rates in sub-Saharan Africa have turned a corner and after decades of stagnation¹ are catching² up with the rest of the world.  The organization made the statement in its annual report on African economies issued Wednesday in South Africa. Correspondent Scott Bobb reports from Johannesburg.

The World Bank director for southern Africa, Ritva Reinikka, Wednesday said something new is on the horizon in Africa that began in the mid-1990s.

"Many African economies appear to have turned the corner and moved to a path of faster and steadier growth.  And for the first time in three decades, they are growing in tandem³ with the rest of the world," she said.

She said annual growth rates of more than five-percent from 1995 to 2005 reversed 20 years of stagnation and decline from 1975 to 1995.  The World Bank's Economic Indicators⁴ report issued Wednesday forecast these rates will continue through next year.

The World Bank's Chief Economist⁵ for Africa, John Page, said for the first time African economies are growing at the same rate as other developing nations and for the first time they are growing faster than developed countries.

He asks whether the new trend is the result of good policies or what he calls the "good luck" coming from the sustained rise of trade and foreign investment across the global economy.

"Our summary judgment⁶ is that it is a little bit of both.  But good policies have made it possible for [African] countries to seize the opportunities offered by the current commodities boom in a way that they were unable to seize in previous decades," he said.

Page says policies of many African governments have lowered inflation and budget deficits⁷ and stabilized⁸ exchange rates and foreign debt repayments⁹.  He says these policies, along with better governance and lower trade barriers, have helped them weather economic hard times.

But Page notes that 40 percent of Africa's 750 million people still live on less than $1 per day.  And the average live expectancy¹⁰ in many countries has been dramatically lowered by AIDS, tuberculosis¹¹, malaria¹² and other diseases.

He says the economic indicators also reveal important disparities among African economies.  Seven oil exporting nations have registered growth rates as high as 30 percent and 18 countries registered sustained growth rates of four to eight percent.

But 17 countries registered growth rates of less than four percent.  These represent more than one-third of the total population and include many countries involved in or recovering from war.

The report was praised for its wealth of data but was criticized by some economists¹³ for failing to focus its analysis on Africa's alarming figures for health, education and income-gaps.

An economist with South Africa's Center for Policy Studies, Chris Landsberg, said economists must work more closely with experts on policy, governance and security in order to develop a more balanced and comprehensive perspective on African development.

"Growth matters as strongly as the report suggests it does, but human development matters just as much as growth," he noted¹⁴.

Others noted that African growth rates still experience higher volatility¹⁵ than the global economy.  They worry that the recent escalation¹⁶ of inflation and interest rates in many developed economies could foretell¹⁷ another severe downturn in Africa that might erase¹⁸ the gains of the past decade.

1 stagnation   

n. 停滞

参考例句：

• Poor economic policies led to a long period of stagnation and decline. 糟糕的经济政策道致了长时间的经济萧条和下滑。
• Motion is absolute while stagnation is relative. 运动是绝对的，而静止是相对的。

2 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

3 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

4 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

5 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。

6 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

7 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

8 stabilized   

v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The patient's condition stabilized. 患者的病情稳定下来。
• His blood pressure has stabilized. 他的血压已经稳定下来了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 repayments   

偿还，报答，偿付的钱物( repayment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The repayments of the loan are spread over 10 years. 贷款可在十年内分期偿还。
• The repayments of the loan are spread over 25 years. 这笔贷款分摊二十五年偿还。

10 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

11 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

12 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

13 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》

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 volatility   

n.挥发性，挥发度，轻快，（性格）反复无常

参考例句：

• That was one reason why volatility was so low last year.这也是去年波动性如此低的原因之一。
• Yet because volatility remained low for so long,disaster myopia prevailed.然而，由于相当长的时间里波动性小，灾难短视就获胜了。

16 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

17 foretell   

v.预言，预告，预示

参考例句：

• Willow trees breaking out into buds foretell the coming of spring.柳枝绽青报春来。
• The outcome of the war is hard to foretell.战争胜负难以预卜。

18 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。