VOA标准英语2009年-Zimbabwe Will Use Recent IMF Loan for Infr

Zimbabwe Finance Minister Tendai Biti says the hundreds of millions of dollars pledged by the International Monetary¹ Fund earlier this month will be used to rebuild the country's infrastructure².

Earlier this month, Central Bank Governor Gideon Gono made a statement through the partisan³ public media saying Zimbabwe had been awarded $500 million from the International Monetary Fund.

The IMF said the money, in the form of special drawing rights that have to be sold to turn it into cash, was allocated⁴ to Zimbabwe and 185 other IMF countries in a one-time loan to help them cope with the world recession.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti says he is in close contact continuously with the IMF, and after consultations⁵ has decided⁶ that as bilateral⁷ aid is not forthcoming, he will use the IMF money to rebuild schools, hospitals, roads, railways and communications.

Since becoming the unity⁸ government finance minister, Biti has eliminated the Zimbabwe dollar and introduced U.S. dollars and the South African rand to stabilize⁹ the economy.

In an interview in a weekly newsletter published by the unity government's prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, Biti hinted at tension between himself and Gono. In a clear reference to the financial chaos¹⁰ of the previous ZANU-PF administration he said Zimbabwe's era of what he called 'Zombie' economics were over, as was the "era of of the state acting¹¹ as the arena¹² for personal enrichment."

He described the previous administration as a "kleptocracy" and said he would ensure the IMF's once-time award was used for the benefit of the people as a whole and not individuals.

Gono, who has been widely accused of usurping¹³ the finance ministry's powers before the inclusive government was sworn into power in February, was responsible for the printing of large amounts of money and triggering the record-breaking inflation that crippled the economy last year.

In his interview Finance Minister Biti painted a grim picture of the Zimbabwe economy, saying it has a debt of $5 billion, of which the central bank debt is $1 billion.

He said the national debt, inherited by the inclusive government, as a percentage of gross domestic product was more than 150 percent and that this debt was two-and-one-half times greater than the value of Zimbabwe's total exports. He said Zimbabwe's indebtedness, including current arrears¹⁴, which he said were a result of previous economic mismanagement, prevented Zimbabwe from accessing cheap loans from institutions like the World Bank.

Western countries have said they will only provide development aid when the year-old political agreement signed by Mr. Mugabe and Mr. Tsvangirai is fully¹⁵ implemented¹⁶.

Zimbabwe has received more than a $1-billion in humanitarian¹⁷ aid since the economic crisis began in earnest in 2000.

The IMF says another $10 million was awarded to Zimbabwe, but is being held back until it clears $140 million in current arrears to the fund.

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 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。

3 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

4 allocated   

adj. 分配的 动词allocate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The Ford Foundation allocated millions of dollars for cancer research. 福特基金会拨款数百万美元用于癌症研究。
• More funds will now be allocated to charitable organizations. 现在会拨更多的资金给慈善组织。

5 consultations   

n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找

参考例句：

• Consultations can be arranged at other times by appointment. 磋商可以通过预约安排在其他时间。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Consultations are under way. 正在进行磋商。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

8 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

9 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

10 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

11 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

12 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

13 usurping   

篡夺，霸占( usurp的现在分词 )； 盗用； 篡夺，篡权

参考例句：

• Earlier the Ukrainian President dissolved Parliament because it claimed it was usurping power. 之前乌克兰总统解散国会因为国会声称要夺权。

14 arrears   

n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作

参考例句：

• The payments on that car loan are in arrears by three months.购车贷款的偿付被拖欠了三个月。
• They are urgent for payment of arrears of wages.他们催讨拖欠的工钱。

15 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

16 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

17 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。