VOA标准英语2010年-Increased Support for Developing Count

For International Monetary¹ Fund (IMF) officials, the past week's annual meetings were part of efforts to improve dialogue with the developing world.

The IMF's Director of External Relations, Caroline Atkinson, says "we've funded representatives from civil society organizations to come to the [annual] meetings to tell us of their concerns, to hear from us about what we are doing and why, and promote an exchange. We've also funded a number of journalists and other media to come from Africa and Asia."

But non-governmental organizations say the Fund needs to do more.

 
Jubilee² USA
Demonstrators compared the IMF to a "loan shark" and urged an end to what they called unjust economic policies
The group ActionAid says IMF programs have generally prohibited the type of government-supported stimulus³ used by the industrialized countries to help weather the international financial crisis. Instead, it says they emphasize austerity measures that often call for cuts in government spending, including social services needed to help poor nations meet UN Millennium⁴ Development Goals. The MDG's call for drastic reductions in poverty as well as vast improvements in education and child and maternal⁵ health by 2015.

Melinda St. Louis is the deputy director of Jubilee USA Network, which includes over 70 religious, labor⁶ and humanitarian⁷ groups supporting lower-income countries.

 
Photo: Trevor Samson / World Bank
Critics say austerity measures mean less money for education and other social services
For example, in Burundi, she says "even though public sector⁸ wages are well below average for the region, the IMF used its influence to ensure the government reduce its spending on public sector wages – having hiring freezes and cutting subsidies⁹ for fuel and reinstate a 20 percent fuel tax affecting the poorest.

"Ghana had to raise utility prices, and have a wage freeze. They needed to increase salaries for health care workers to keep them in Ghana, but the IMF said they were not able to increase salaries to the level they needed to, which could affect the brain drain of health care workers forced to leave the country to make a living."

Smaller budgets and reductions in public expenditures¹⁰ may be continuing. She says IMF programs are projecting that countries tighten¹¹ their fiscal¹² and monetary policies in 2010 and 2011.

 
IMF
Some IMF and World Bank projects aim to boost developing countries' exports to niche¹³ markets, including flowers from Africa to Europe
Development groups are also concerned about the effect of budget tightening¹⁴ on the poor.

Activists¹⁵ say many countries try to attract foreign investment with consumption taxes on lower income groups, instead of closing loop holes on the wealthy. Some governments favor free trade zones with minimal¹⁶ taxes on corporations.

Melinda St. Louis says governments also lower tariffs¹⁷ and import taxes, sources of funding for health and education services. Jubilee USA says an IMF requirement to lower trade barriers in Zambia made the country's textile industry less competitive, and led to the loss there of 30,000 jobs.

Besides calling for reforms on loans and policies for less developed countries, Jubilee USA is also calling for greater transparency regarding deals signed between national governments and the Washington-based financial institutions.

 
Jubilee USA
Last week, Jubilee USA demonstrators urged the IMF to break the chains of debt and end unjust economic policies
"[Some] governments borrow from the IMF or World Bank," says St Louis, "without the knowledge or understanding of the population. Basically, they are getting money up front from projects that may be good, or even wasteful¹⁸, but the country and citizens are saddled with that debt for decades to come."

She says in some cases, the Ministry¹⁹ of Finance in a given country signs with the IMF loan agreements whose details are not made public for scrutiny²⁰ by the parliament, media or voters.

Caroline Atkinson of the IMF disagrees with the criticism. She says the Fund has tripled financing to low income countries with zero interest rate loans. She says money has been made available to the poorest countries on favorable terms so they are not crippled with the burden of repayment²¹.

And, she says conditions on loan agreements have been streamlined.

"One of the reasons for conditionality," she says, "is that we lend when countries are sick, when they have a problem. So like any doctor we advise steps they should take to get better. The medicine is the money that supports them with symptoms and helps them get better, but they also need lifestyle changes. If they have got into crisis because the government is spending too much, or they can't borrow any more, then they probably need to adjust that over time. That is part of what we do."

 
World Bank / Curt²² Carnemark
The global downturn exacerbates²³ the struggle to improve sanitation²⁴ and other services by 2015, a part of the UN Millennium Development Goals
Atkinson says the IMF does not prescribe policies that place tax burdens on the poor, or that single out corporate²⁵ interests for tax breaks.

"One of the things we feel strongly about," she says, "is the tax burden needs to be spread fairly and fall on those best able to pay. We give a lot of technical assistance and advice on how to make sure that people with high incomes or wealth pay the vast bulk of tax. Also, there is no IMF policy in support of lower corporation taxes or free trade zones. Many countries may have them because they have a view about what will encourage exports and growth."

As for transparency, Atkinson says the IMF publishes a large number of loan agreements. She denies there are any private deals between the Fund and clients.

The IMF official says health and education spending was higher last year in countries with Fund support for programs that protect nutrition or provide cash to poor families. Some clients, she says, even have intensive public works programs.

Atkinson says it's evidence the Fund is listening to its critics, and helping²⁶ to protect the most vulnerable.
 

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 jubilee   

n.周年纪念；欢乐

参考例句：

• They had a big jubilee to celebrate the victory.他们举行盛大的周年纪念活动以祝贺胜利。
• Every Jubilee,to take the opposite case,has served a function.反过来说，历次君主巡幸，都曾起到某种作用。

3 stimulus   

n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物

参考例句：

• Regard each failure as a stimulus to further efforts.把每次失利看成对进一步努力的激励。
• Light is a stimulus to growth in plants.光是促进植物生长的一个因素。

4 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

5 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 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。

8 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

9 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 expenditures   

n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 )；使用；（尤指金钱的）支出额；（精力、时间、材料等的）耗费

参考例句：

• We have overspent.We'll have to let up our expenditures next month. 我们已经超支了，下个月一定得节约开支。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pension includes an allowance of fifty pounds for traffic expenditures. 年金中包括50镑交通费补贴。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

12 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• 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。

13 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

14 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

15 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

17 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

18 wasteful   

adj.（造成）浪费的，挥霍的

参考例句：

• It is a shame to be so wasteful.这样浪费太可惜了。
• Duties have been reassigned to avoid wasteful duplication of work.为避免重复劳动浪费资源，任务已经重新分派。

19 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

20 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

21 repayment   

n.偿还，偿还款；报酬

参考例句：

• I am entitled to a repayment for the damaged goods.我有权利索取货物损坏赔偿金。
• The tax authorities have been harrying her for repayment.税务局一直在催她补交税款。

22 curt   

adj.简短的，草率的

参考例句：

• He gave me an extremely curt answer.他对我作了极为草率的答复。
• He rapped out a series of curt commands.他大声发出了一连串简短的命令。

23 exacerbates   

n.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的名词复数 )v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Stripping the land in these ways allows faster surface runoff and exacerbates flooding. 这些做法终将使土地裸露、地表径流加快，从而加重了洪水的威胁。 来自辞典例句
• This policy exacerbates the gap between rich and poor. 这项政策加剧了贫富差距。 来自互联网

24 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

25 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

26 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。