2007年VOA标准英语-Nigerian Government Announces Currency Reform

By Gilbert da Costa
Abuja
15 August 2007

Nigeria has won praise from the international community for free-market reforms that have spurred high levels of growth, slashed¹ inflation and earned the country significant debt relief. And as Gilbert da Costa reports for VOA from Abuja, it is now planning to restructure the country's currency.

 

Central Bank Governor Charles Soludo raises a new naira note in Abuja, 28 Feb 2007

In an effort to reform Nigeria's financial sector², the country's central bank has announced Tuesday plans to restructure the currency, the naira, starting in August 2008.

 

Central Bank Governor Chukwuma Soludo says the plan involves dropping two zeroes off the naira. Soludo says the change will make it easier to manage inflation, cut back on production costs, and promote the use of small-denomination³ coins. He says it will also alleviate⁴ the burden on consumers, who have to carry large bundles of naira bills just to purchase daily staples⁵.

 

"Redenomination and introduction of totally new currency structure, following the progress made with other reforms and the enabling conditions in the economy today, are designed to better anchor the inflationary expectations, strengthen public confidence in the naira, make for easier conversions⁶ to other currencies, eliminate higher denomination notes with lower value and reduce the cost of production, distribution and processing of currencies, promote the usage of coins and lay the foundation for the convertibility⁷ of the naira," said Soludo.

 

International financial experts are generally pleased with Nigeria's efforts to improve its economy. It has achieved high levels of growth, reduced inflation to single digits⁸, and won $18 billion in debt relief last year. And President Umaru Yar'Adua's has pledged to deepen the economic reforms carried out by his predecessor⁹, former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

An IMF team is due to visit Nigeria later this month for discussions with officials on what is known as the Policy Support Initiative, a joint¹⁰ IMF-Nigerian initiative to boost production while keeping a tight grip on inflation.

 

In line with the federal government's strict control of public spending, a large chunk¹¹ of Nigeria's windfall oil revenue is now being kept in what is known as the excess crude account. Nigeria's total foreign reserves stand at $43 billion, up from just $7 billion a few years ago.

 

Recently, the federal government has come under pressure from Nigeria's semi-autonomous states to release the foreign reserves to alleviate poverty.

 

But the International Monetary¹² Fund representative in Nigeria, Michael Bell, says it is essential for Nigeria to limit spending to help control inflation and prevent the boom and bust¹³ cycles caused by oil price swings.

 

"In the last few years, Nigeria has set itself an oil reference point, and it has managed to sustain significant levels of oil savings," he said. "I think one of the challenges going forward is to continue that performance. Many people recognize that there are pressures for a higher rate of expenditure¹⁴ from the oil revenues. Nigeria has to thread a careful path between ensuring as rapid a development as possible without destabilizing the economy."

 

Nigeria, Africa's largest oil producer, is the second largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa.

1 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

3 denomination   

n.命名，取名，(度量衡、货币等的)单位

参考例句：

• The firm is still operating under another denomination.这家公司改用了名称仍在继续营业。
• Litre is a metric denomination.升是公制单位。

4 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

5 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

6 conversions   

变换( conversion的名词复数 )； （宗教、信仰等）彻底改变； （尤指为居住而）改建的房屋； 橄榄球（触地得分后再把球射中球门的）附加得分

参考例句：

• He kicked a penalty goal and two conversions, ie in Rugby football. 他一次罚球得分，两次触地后射门得分（在橄榄球赛中）。
• Few of the intermediates or enzymes involved in these conversions have been isolated from higher plants. 在这些转变中包含的少数中间产物或酶已经从高等植物中分离出来。

7 convertibility   

n.可改变性，可变化性；兑换

参考例句：

• Some countermeasure and recommendation on RMB's full convertibility. " 对人民币实现完全自由兑换提出了对策和建议。 来自互联网
• China capital convertibility's course is the same as foreign exchange system reform. 中国资本项目开放的进程，是与我国外汇体制改革的步伐相一致的。 来自互联网

8 digits   

n.数字( digit的名词复数 )；手指，足趾

参考例句：

• The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

10 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

11 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

12 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。

13 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

14 expenditure   

n.(时间、劳力、金钱等)支出；使用，消耗

参考例句：

• The entry of all expenditure is necessary.有必要把一切开支入账。
• The monthly expenditure of our family is four hundred dollars altogether.我们一家的开销每月共计四百元。