新西兰英语 626 Official Cash Rate

 　　First listen to September 15th 2011 to hear about the Official Cash Rate.

　　Dr Bollard again kept the Official Cash Rate (OCR) at 2.5%. It has been the same since 10th March 2011. He also said that economic growth until the end of March next year will only be 2%, not more than 3% which he predicted three months ago. The reason is the drop in export incomes because of the problems in Europe. He said there are too many unknown factors that could happen in Europe. One of the unknowns is the Greek election¹ result next weekend.

　　For the next nine months, New Zealand will have lower GDP and higher inflation² but compared with many European countries, we are not doing too badly. Mortgage³ interest rates for homes are still low so maybe now is a good time for first home buyers.

　　Vocabulary

　　predicted – forecast, thought about the future

　　factors – matters, issues, things

　　unknowns – noun from the adjective ‘unknown’

　　GDP – Gross Domestic Product measures the value of the economy

　　inflation – increase in prices

1 election   

n.选举，选择权；当选

参考例句：

• There is no doubt but that he will win the election.毫无疑问，他将在竞选中获胜。
• The government will probably fall at the coming election.在即将到来的大选中，该政府很可能要垮台。

2 inflation   

n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• The inflation of the airbed took several minutes.给空气床垫充气花了几分钟时间。

3 mortgage   

n.抵押，抵押贷款；vt.抵押

参考例句：

• He's having a lot of trouble paying his mortgage every month.他付每月的抵押借款利息有很大的困难。
• The bank refused to accept any mortgage on land.银行拒绝接受任何土地抵押。