商业报道:美联储拟第三次减息

Scripts:

A: The Fed has got to cut rates , there’s no question.

B: How much?

A: Er.. I think what we need to see is er, a process of cutting rates, so it’s less about how much today and about the, the holding up the hope of more rate cuts to come, what I’m expecting is a quarter point of the Fed funds rate today. Er, half of a percent of the emergency discount rate that’s where banks go when they are in difficulties. But clearly, a statement which says more is going to come. Don’t worry, guys, we’ll keep on cutting.

B: And what’s their key focus right now, is it trying to get the banks to er… reduce their inter-bank lending rate, is that the key focus right now?

A: That’s part of the process. Er… but it’s slightly wider than that , because of course what you’ve got at the moment is actually a monetary¹ policy tightening². You’re a consumer, your interest rate hasn’t come down 3 quarters of a point along with the Fed funds rate. If you are a consumer, the chances are your interest rate's gone up because banks are tightening credit standards, and raising the cost that they pass on to the consumer. So what the Fed is concerned to do is to stop that process of monetary policy tightening.

B: And whatever the rates are , the other problem is the fact that the banks are just reducing their lending generally, and they don’t wanna lend to anyone with any sort of risky³ background, so that's gonna cause problem within itself. There is nothing the Fed can do about that, is there?

A: No, there is not much that the Fed can do about that. Er…, at the margin⁴, we are, I think going to less credit, now, I’m, we can go back to Japan in the, in the 1990s, it doesn’t matter how much you cut rates. You cannot force banks to lend if they don’t want to. But in actual fact, one of the things that we’re concerned about is not so much new borrowers, but existing borrowers who’ve got adjustable⁵ rate debt er… where the interest rates go up and down, those are the guys who are vulnerable in this current environment, and the Fed's got to try and limit the damage to them. Because of course there are far more existing borrowers than there are potential new borrowers.

B: And you mentioned that the discount er.. rates which is the rate that the, you say that the banks go to the Feds asking for money if they really need it. Er… but that’s kind of epidemic⁶, isn’t it? Because once people start using or once banks start using that facility, there is a huge stigma⁷ attached to that , so they are gonna avoid that , anyway, aren’ they?

A: Well, there is a stigma, and particularly here in the United Kingdom, er…borrowing from the Bank of England attaches a huge stigma. In the States it will…

B: Northern Rock was the classic example.

A: Precisely⁸. In the United States it’s less so, and there has been more willingness to borrow from the discount window er in the United States. So,er…I think actually as the credits crisis of confidence continues, banks will get over the social stigma and recognize that, hold on, if here's someone prepared to lend his money. We might as well take advantage of it, and that will then help to at least smooth over some of the problems in the market...

Notes:

smooth over: To mitigate⁹ or alleviate¹⁰

discount rate: The discount rate is the interest rate charged to commercial banks and other depository institutions on loans they receive from their regional Federal Reserve Bank's lending facility--the discount window.

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 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

3 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

4 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

5 adjustable   

adj.可调整的，可校准的

参考例句：

• More expensive cameras have adjustable focusing.比较贵的照相机有可调焦距。
• The chair has the virtue of being adjustable.这种椅子具有可调节的优点。

6 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

7 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

8 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

9 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

10 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。