每日英語跟讀 Ep.K354: How the Wealthy World Has Failed Poor Countries During the Pandemic

Like much of the developing world, Pakistan was alarmingly short of doctors and medical facilities long before anyone had heard of COVID-19. Then the pandemic overwhelmed hospitals, forcing some to turn away patients. As fear upended daily life, families lost livelihoods and struggled to feed themselves.

跟許多開發中國家一樣，早在人們聽聞新冠病毒一詞以前，巴基斯坦就極其缺乏醫生和醫療設施。然後，這場大流行疾情讓各醫院無力招架，迫使部分醫院拒絕收治病人。隨著恐懼顛覆了日常生活，一個個家庭失去了生計，為養活自己而掙扎。

On the other side of the world in Washington, two deep-pocketed organizations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, vowed to spare poor countries from desperation. Their economists warned that immense relief was required to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and profound damage to global prosperity. Emerging markets make up 60% of the world economy, by one IMF measure. A blow to their fortunes inflicts pain around the planet.

在世界另一頭的華盛頓，世界銀行和國際貨幣基金這兩個財力雄厚的組織誓言不讓貧窮國家陷入絕境。他們的經濟學家警告說，必須大力進行救濟，以防止人道災難和對全球繁榮的嚴重破壞。根據國際貨幣基金的一項衡量指標，新興市場占全球經濟60%。他們的財富遭受打擊，將給全球帶來痛苦。

Wages sent home to poor countries by migrant workers — a vital artery of finance — have diminished. The shutdown of tourism has punished many developing countries. So has plunging demand for oil. Billions of people have lost the wherewithal to buy food, increasing malnutrition. By next year, the pandemic could push 150 million people into extreme poverty, the World Bank has warned, in the first increase in more than two decades.

移工寄回窮國的薪水是這些國家經濟的命脈，如今已經減少。旅遊業的關閉使許多開發中國家受到重創。對石油的需求大幅下降，同樣極具殺傷力。數十億人失去購買食物的必要資金，營養不良加劇。世界銀行警告說，這場大流行疾情到明年恐將讓1.5億人陷入赤貧，是20多年來首度增加。

But the World Bank and IMF have failed to translate their concern into meaningful support, economists say. That has left less-affluent countries struggling with limited resources and untenable debts, prompting their governments to reduce spending just as it is needed to bolster health care systems and aid people suffering lost income.

而經濟學家們說，世界銀行和國際貨幣基金並未將自身的關切轉化為有意義的支持。這讓一些較不富裕國家在有限的資源與難以支應的債務中苦苦掙扎，迫使這些國家反而在必須加強醫療體系、救助收入減少的民眾之際，縮減支出。

“A lost decade of growth in large parts of the world remains a plausible prospect absent urgent, concerted and sustained policy response,” concluded a recent report from the Group of 30, a gathering of international finance experts, including Lawrence Summers, a former economic adviser to President Barack Obama, and Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration.

由曾任歐巴馬總統經濟顧問、柯林頓政府財政部長的桑默斯等國際金融專家組成的30人小組，最近在一份報告中總結道：「若無緊急、協調一致與持續的政策回應，世界大部分地區出現經濟空轉無成長的十年，仍是看來很可能的前景。」

The wealthiest nations have been cushioned by extraordinary surges of credit unleashed by central banks and government spending collectively estimated at more than $8 trillion. Developing countries have yet to receive help on such a scale.

那些最富裕的國家因有央行釋放巨額信貸，佐以政府的支出而獲得緩衝，總額合計逾8兆美元，開發中國家則未獲如此大規模的援助。

The IMF and World Bank have marshaled a relatively anemic response, in part because of the predilections of their largest shareholder, the United States.

國際貨幣基金與世界銀行做出的反應相對無力，部分原因是順應最大股東美國的意思。Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/5015842