VOA标准英语2011--Libya Faces Economic Challenges in Post-Gadhafi Era

Libya Faces Economic Challenges in Post-Gadhafi Era

 

Moammar Gadhafi is dead, but Libyans still face many difficulties now that their long time leader is gone, including how to repair a battered¹ economy.

Before the uprisings, Libya produced roughly 1.6 million barrels of light, sweet crude oil per day. Today, the country's oil production is barely one fourth of that.

And yet, despite the country's historic dependence² on oil exports, Middle East expert Anthony Cordesman said oil is not the key to Libya's future.

"There's a debate over how long it will take to bring its existing production on line, whether it can go back to what it was producing before this started; in a matter of months? A year? A year and a half? But no matter what happens, that doesn't bring national wealth," said Cordesman. "It has to create an economic structure that has many other ways of providing money, or its people are not going to have the stability, the careers, the income they want."

With nearly one in three Libyans out of work and a poverty rate above 30 percent, Cordesman said what the country needs most is cash. Cordesman said some of that will come from unlocking billions of dollars Gadhafi stashed³ away during his 42-year reign⁴.

Libyans waits outside a branch of the North Africa Bank to get 250 Libyan dinars ($200) at the Souk al-Djoumaa district in Tripoli, Libya, August 2011. (file photo)

"At this point in time, Libya can draw on the fact that Gadhafi built up a vast amount of international reserves. Many of them are not liquid. It does not have the capability⁵ or the governance to spend the money quickly and wisely, and that amount of money will go very quickly if it's wasted simply on empty jobs and big projects that don't produce any real development," he said.

The U.S. government has promised about $40 million to help Libya secure and destroy its dangerous weapons stockpiles. But aside from playing a guiding role in Libya's transition to democracy, Cordesman said there's little the U.S. can or should do in Libya.

"We need to be very careful to help the Libyans help themselves as much as we can. We don't want instability in North Africa, we don't want an oil power to be permanently⁶ tied up in internal conflict, we don't want Islamic extremism to take over, but we really have to be honest about our own capabilities⁷ and particularly our own politics now."

Officials from the World Bank and International Monetary⁸ Fund say they are working to help Libya assess its battered economy and improve its public finances. The IMF announced recognition last month for Libya's transitional government, paving the way for future financial assistance.

1 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

2 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

3 stashed   

v.贮藏( stash的过去式和过去分词 )；隐藏；藏匿；藏起

参考例句：

• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她有一大笔钱存在几个不同的银行账户下。
• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她在不同的银行账户上秘密储存了一大笔钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 reign   

n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势

参考例句：

• The reign of Queen Elizabeth lapped over into the seventeenth century.伊丽莎白王朝延至17世纪。
• The reign of Zhu Yuanzhang lasted about 31 years.朱元璋统治了大约三十一年。

5 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

6 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

7 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 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。