Turkey's Economy Still Booming

     For the first time in its modern history, Turkey has resisted a serious global economic crisis, and also has decoupled itself from the rest of Europe by rebounding¹ strongly in 2010. Although Turkey's economy is booming, however, the new government has some urgent matters to address.

    When it first came into power in 2002, the Justice and Development Party, or AKP, faced a devastating² financial crisis.

    To prop³ up Turkey's economy, the International Monetary⁴ Fund supported an economic program for the country that it followed for nearly a decade, transforming Turkey into an economic tiger.

    Now, with the AKP once again at the helm, the priorities of the new government will be to implement⁵ policies to address the new economic challenges it faces.

    There are growing concerns that with the economy growing at 9 percent annually⁶, there is a chance of it overheating, with inflation starting to rear its head. Also of concern is a skyrocketing deficit⁷, running at nearly 8 percent of GDP [gross domestic product].

    Emre Yigit is chief economist⁸ for the Istanbul-based trading house Global Securities. He said while the current deficit is not too threatening, it eventually could spin out of control.

    "Turkey needs to borrow not less than probably $10 billion a month," said Yigit. "It's a testament⁹ to the strength of the Turkish economy and peoples' confidence in it, both at home and abroad, that this in fact has been going on more or less for years and nobody seems to be caring too much. But eventually chickens do come home to roost."The global financial markets have been clamoring for the Turkish central bank to raise interest rates to dampen Turkish consumers' demand for imports. But the central bank fears that would result in a surge of new money being injected into the economy, driving up the value of the Turkish lira and resulting in even more imports being bought.

    As a result, the government has been curtailing¹⁰ demand by increasing the amount of money that banks keep in their reserves, reducing the amount they can lend to consumers.

    This approach is making markets increasingly nervous, especially with what is going on in Greece.

    Inan Demir, chief economist for Finance Bank, said time may be running out for Turkey.

    "I am more inclined to give the Turkish central bank the benefit of the doubt," said Demir. "But given that global uncertainties¹¹ are escalating¹² once again, the international markets - with their bout¹³ of risk aversion that we are seeing right now if it turns into something more generalized - might just not be that patient."The problems facing the Turkish economy also reveal fundamental structural¹⁴ problems that need to be addressed.

    Cengiz Aktar, a political scientist at Bahcesehir University, said, "This is not sustainable. It will need cash from abroad. Turkey has a zero savings¹⁵ rate. It needs foreign direct investment. It needs to import in order to export. I am afraid this happiness chain may break unless there is no fundamental and macro decisions."By Western standards, many parts of Turkey remain poor. Much of Anatolia, the rural eastern region, bears no resemblance to the glitter of Istanbul and the western coast. Still, Turkey's economic expansion has brought the prospect¹⁶ of a First World future closer than ever. The question is, for how long?(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑)

1 rebounding   

蹦跳运动

参考例句：

• The strength of negative temperature concrete is tested with supersonic-rebounding method. 本文将超声回弹综合法用于负温混凝土强度检测。
• The fundamental of basketball includes shooting, passing and catching, rebounding, etc. 篮球运动中最基本的东西包括投篮，传接球，篮板球等。

2 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

3 prop   

vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山

参考例句：

• A worker put a prop against the wall of the tunnel to keep it from falling.一名工人用东西支撑住隧道壁好使它不会倒塌。
• The government does not intend to prop up declining industries.政府无意扶持不景气的企业。

4 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。

5 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。

6 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

7 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• 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。

8 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

9 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

10 curtailing   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They will be curtailing the discussions at two thirty. 他们将把讨论缩短至两点半。 来自互联网
• Individually, banks are acting rationally by retaining their capital and curtailing lending. 此外，银行们正在合理地保留其资本和减少贷款。 来自互联网

11 uncertainties   

无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物

参考例句：

• One of the uncertainties of military duty is that you never know when you might suddenly get posted away. 任军职不稳定的因素之一是你永远不知道什么时候会突然被派往它处。
• Uncertainties affecting peace and development are on the rise. 影响和平与发展的不确定因素在增加。 来自汉英非文学 - 十六大报告

12 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

13 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

14 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

15 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

16 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。