VOA标准英语2009年-India Buys Gold from International Monetar

By Anjana Pasricha
New Delhi
06 November 2009

 
A worker displays gold bars at the National Indian Bullion¹ Refinery² (NIBR)'s gold and silver refinery in Mumbai, 06 Nov 2009
India has purchased 200 tons of gold from the International Monetary³ Fund to diversify⁴ its foreign exchange reserves. From New Delhi, Anjana Pasricha reports the deal means that India's Central bank now has the tenth largest gold holdings in the world.

Few had expected India's Reserve Bank to be the first to buy the International Monetary Fund's gold.

India has snapped up 200 metric tons of gold - nearly half the precious metal the IMF is selling to shore up its finances and increase lending to developing countries.

The Reserve Bank has paid $6.7 billion for the gold.

The addition of 200 tons of gold means that about six percent of the Reserve Bank's foreign exchange reserves are now in gold, up from four percent. The country's foreign exchange reserves totaled $285 billion in October.

India's Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, says the country's comfortable foreign exchange reserves prompted the Reserve Bank or RBI to invest in the precious metal.

"Naturally as a finance minister my advise to the governor of RBI would be that if you are in a position keeping in view the availability of the foreign exchange you buy that [gold], and from that perspective it has been bought," he said.

Economists⁵ say India has bought gold to diversify its assets and hold fewer dollars at a time when the U.S. currency is weakening against other currencies. Gold, whose prices have surged in the past year, is seen as a hedge against a slumping⁶ dollar.

India, like several Asian countries, holds relatively⁷ little gold in proportion to its foreign exchange reserves.

India's move to buy gold from the IMF is also seen as part of an effort to assert its greater role in world economic affairs. India, along with China, has been lobbying for larger representation in the IMF, and has promised to augment⁸ its resources for lending to developing countries.

There is speculation⁹ that other Central Banks, including the China's, would buy the rest of the gold the IMF plans to sell.

In fact, India's gold purchase is reminiscent of another year when the yellow metal dominated headlines in the country. In 1991, dwindling¹⁰ foreign exchange reserves forced New Delhi to use its gold reserves to raise a loan to pay its international debt. The payment crisis marked a turning point for India's economy as it prompted the government to reverse decades of closed-door, socialist¹¹ style economic policies.

Economists say India's purchase of 200 tons of gold shows that the country has come a long way in the two decades since it was on the verge¹² of defaulting on its international debt. 

India is Asia's third largest economy, and it was less affected¹³ by the global financial crisis compared to Western countries.

 

1 bullion   

n.金条，银条

参考例句：

• In the London bullion market yesterday,the price of gold was steady.昨天伦敦金银市场黄金价格稳定。
• Police have launched a man-hunt for the bullion robbers.警方已大举搜捕抢劫金条的罪犯。

2 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

3 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。

4 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

5 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 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》

6 slumping   

大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的现在分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下]

参考例句：

• Hong Kong's slumping economy also caused a rise in bankruptcy applications. 香港经济低迷，破产申请个案随之上升。
• And as with slumping, over-arching can also be a simple postural habit. 就像弯腰驼背，过度挺直也可能只是一种习惯性姿势。

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

8 augment   

vt.(使)增大，增加，增长，扩张

参考例句：

• They hit upon another idea to augment their income.他们又想出一个增加收入的办法。
• The government's first concern was to augment the army and auxiliary forces.政府首先关心的是增强军队和辅助的力量。

9 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

10 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

11 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

12 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

13 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。