VOA标准英语2010年-Ethiopia Devalues Its Currency by 17 P
时间：2019-01-14 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2010年(九)月
Ethiopia has sharply devalued its currency - the birr - in a bid to boost economic growth. The move was welcomed by economists 1, though it may have the side effect of fueling inflation.
Ethiopia's Central Bank announced Wednesday that the birr has been devalued from roughly 13 ? birr to the dollar to nearly 16 ? birr, a one-day drop of about 17 percent. The rate was posted on the bank's website. Officials were not immediately available to comment.
Action Gets 'Thumbs Up' - With Some Reservations
The International Monetary 2 Fund representative in Addis Ababa, Sukhwinder Singh Toor, welcomed the move, saying it would help to bolster 3 the competitiveness of Ethiopia's struggling economy.
Analysts 4 said the devaluation should improve the Horn of Africa nation's trade deficit 5. Figures for fiscal 6 year 2010 show a $7 billion deficit, based on $8.7 billion in imports and $1.7 billion dollars in exports. The trade deficit comprises about 30 percent of Ethiopia's Gross Domestic Product of about $23 billion a year.
But Tewodros Mekonnen, a researcher in the Macroeconomic division of the Ethiopian Economics Association, said the devaluation may not have the desired effect immediately because imports are mostly essential goods, such a food and fuel, while exports are agricultural items.
"In order to reduce your trade deficit, your import and export needs to respond to the exchange rate devaluation, but at the moment imports are too essential to reduce it, so imports may not respond as much," said Mekonnen. "Also, exports may not respond as much because you cannot increase your agricultural exports just because you have the advantage of the exchange rate devaluation."
Tewodros said the hope is that the devaluation could spur domestic production of some of the essential items that currently must be imported.
He is among several analysts who say the downside of the devaluation is a possible uptick in inflation, which in July stood at 5.7 percent. It also could force the government to revise its estimated budget deficit, as more local currency will be needed to purchase necessary imports.
Exports and Growth
Ethiopia is Africa's biggest coffee exporter, and the world's fourth largest exporter of sesame.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi says Ethiopia's economy has grown at a rate of 10 percent or more in each of the past seven years, though international agencies question the method of calculating the figure. Mr. Meles says, though, that even with double digit 7 growth, the country must run just to stand still, because population growth in the country of 80 million people has been faster than economic growth.
A poverty index recently released by Oxford 8 University and the United Nations ranked Ethiopia as the world's second poorest country, after Niger.
- The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
- Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- 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。
- 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。
- 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。
- The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
- We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。
- The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
- The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。
- Her telephone number differs from mine by one digit.她的电话号码和我的只差一个数字。
- Many animals have five digits.许多动物有5趾。