VOA标准英语2015--World Bank, IMF Meeting Focuses on Slow Growth, Reforms

World Bank, IMF Meeting Focuses on Slow Growth, Reforms

Top central bank and financial officials from nearly 200 nations are in Washington for World Bank and International Monetary¹ Fund meetings that will focus on speeding up economic growth, creating jobs, and avoiding political bickering². New studies show the pace of global growth is frustratingly³ slow.

Even with falling oil prices and strong U.S. growth, the head of the International Monetary Fund said the global economy only expanded around 3.4 percent last year. While that is near the average growth over the last couple of decades, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said growth was uneven⁴ and too slow.

"Given the lingering impact of the great recession on people, it is actually generating hardship for many people around the world, including those countries where more than 50 percent of the youth population goes unemployed⁵. So growth is not good enough," she said.

Lagarde urged nations to take advantage of lower oil prices to cut energy subsidies⁶ and use the saved money on education to boost long-term economic growth.

The IMF chief said progress on trade agreements could also help growth and employment, while better access to credit could help small businesses hire more people.

And she called for more investment in infrastructure⁷ to provide jobs in the short term and bolster⁸ growth in the long term by facilitating commerce.

Improved infrastructure is also the focus of the new Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Some analysts⁹ see it as a rival to the IMF and World Bank, which critics say are unfairly dominated by Western nations.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim is urging the new bank to adhere to high standards for dealing¹⁰ with environmental and labor¹¹ issues.

He also said nearly one billion people around the world struggle to survive on less than $1.25 a day. Kim pledged to work closely with the new bank because the enemy was poverty - not other institutions.

"Poverty is 2.5 billion people not having access to financial services like bank accounts. Poverty is 1.4 billion people without access to electricity. Poverty is having to put your children to bed at night without food. And poverty is not going to school because, in order to survive, everyone in the family needs to make a few cents every day," he said.

World Bank critics said the global lender would fight poverty more effectively if it speeded up efforts to reform its large bureaucracy and improved safeguards for people and environments affected¹² by bank projects.

Nezir Sinani of the advocacy group Bank Information Center said he was worried by proposals to ask borrowing nations to implement¹³ labor and environmental safeguards.

"That is going to result in huge problems in many countries that we know today are not good at defending human rights or civil liberties," said Sinani.

Top World Bank and IMF officials will be discussing these and other complex issues this week with financial and bank officials from member nations around the world as they gather here in Washington.

1 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。

2 bickering   

v.争吵( bicker的现在分词 )；口角；（水等）作潺潺声；闪烁

参考例句：

• The children are always bickering about something or other. 孩子们有事没事总是在争吵。
• The two children were always bickering with each other over small matters. 这两个孩子总是为些小事斗嘴。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 frustratingly   

参考例句：

• Some programs set this limit too close, resulting in frustratingly temperamental scroll behavior. 一些程序将这种限制设置得太窄，导致滚屏的行为变幻无常，令人沮丧。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• But the process is frustratingly slow. 但这过程慢得让人郁闷。 来自互联网

4 uneven   

adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的

参考例句：

• The sidewalk is very uneven—be careful where you walk.这人行道凹凸不平—走路时请小心。
• The country was noted for its uneven distribution of land resources.这个国家以土地资源分布不均匀出名。

5 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

6 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

8 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。