VOA慢速英语2016 油价下跌令尼日利亚陷入困境

油价下跌令尼日利亚陷入困境

Nigeria is Africa's biggest oil producer. But the fall in crude oil prices has Nigerians preparing for a below average economy this year.

尼日利亚是非洲最大的石油产出国，但原油价格的下跌让尼日利亚人准备迎来今年低于平均速度的经济发展。

Nigeria's economy has long been linked to oil. The country now produces more than two million barrels of oil a day.

尼日利亚的经济长期以来与经济关联，该国现在每天产出200多万桶石油。

Experts are worried, however, because crude oil prices have fallen below $30 a barrel. In 2014, oil was still valued at over $100 a barrel.

然而由于原油价格跌到30美元一桶以下，这令专家们担心，2014年，石油的价格还是100多美元一桶。

Nearly 70 percent of the Nigerian government's revenue comes from the sale of oil. Oil makes up over two-thirds of Nigeria's exports. That puts the country in a difficult position, according to energy experts.

尼日利亚政府近70%的财政收入来自石油销售，石油占尼日利亚出口额的三分之二以上，能源专家称这让尼日利亚处于艰难的境地。

"Oil is basically government's main source of revenue of running the economy, or running the budget," said Dolapo Oni, Ecobank's Head of Energy Research.

“石油是经济运转所需的政府财政收入的主要来源，”Dolapo Oni是Ecobank银行的能源研究部负责人。

When elected in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari promised to provide jobs and to stop corruption¹. Those promises led to a 25 percent proposed budget increase over the year before.

总统默罕默德·布哈里2015年当选时承诺制造就业机会并遏制腐败，这就令去年的预算增加了25%。

Experts says the price of oil may force the government to rethink promised projects.

专家称油价可能迫使政府重新思考承诺的项目。

"If the promises are waiting while the government is spending money on luxuries...then there will be a crisis," financial expert Bismarck Rewane said.

“如果在做出承诺的同时政府却在奢侈品上浪费钱财，那就会出现危机，”财政专家比斯麦·雷万说。

 

Dolapo Oni said that the price decline would also lead to major changes to the country's oil industry. Among those changes are reforms to the fuel subsidy² system that keeps fuel prices low. Other changes would be to the state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum³ Corporation. Both of these have been accused of waste by industry experts and civil society.

Dolapo Oni说价格下降将使该国的石油产业发生巨大改变，其中包括对保持油价低廉的燃油补贴改革，其他变化包括尼日利亚国有石油公司的改革，这两方面都被行业专家和民间社会批评为浪费。

1 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

2 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

3 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。