每日财经词汇/每日英语
来源：FT中文网 (http://www.ftchinese.com/)
外语作祟 欧洲央行信息“失真”
英国《金融时报》弗朗西斯·威廉姆斯(Frances Williams)日内瓦报道 2006年9月30日 星期六
镇静、沉着、一致，这些词是欧洲央行(ECB)的标语 —— 除非你听到的是西班牙语、法语或意大利语。
Calm, composed and consistent are the watchwords of the European Central Bank. Except perhaps if you listen in Spanish, French or Italian.
欧洲央行行长让-克洛德·特里谢(Jean-Claude Trichet)已向金融市场暗示，下周很有可能再次升息。特里谢在讲话时用英文“高度警觉”(strong vigilance)来暗示升息在即。
Jean-Claude Trichet, ECB president, has hinted to financial markets that another interest rate increase is highly-likely next week, using the English code-words “strong vigilance” to signal a rise is in the pipeline.
但巴克莱资本(Barclays Capital)的一项研究显示，当人们把他的话翻译成其它欧洲语言时，会选择多种不同的表达法，甚至还要加上一些不符合央行风格的激情。
But a study by Barclays Capital reveals that when his words have been translated into other European languages, a number of different alternatives have been chosen, and even a little un-central-bank-like passion added.
这些差异突出表明了欧盟采用全部20种官方语言所造成的问题，但它并没有导致金融市场的崩溃。欧洲央行专门有一个“术语专家”小组，来选择欧洲央行常用语最合适的译文，确保其意思整体上得到了恰当细微的反映。而关注欧洲央行的人士通常使用英文版本。
The divergences, highlighting the problems of working in all 20 European Union official languages, have not caused a meltdown in financial markets. The ECB has its own small team of “terminologists” to choose the most appropriate translations for stock ECB-phrases, ensuring its messages are generally suitably nuanced. And ECB watchers generally work largely on English texts.
但巴克莱资本经济学家朱利安·卡洛(Julian Callow)则表示，“官员们用几种不同语言讲话时，他们的话有时就有被误解的可能。”
But Julian Callow, economist at Barclays Capital, says that nonetheless, “when officials speak in different languages, there is sometimes a possibility that their language will be misunderstood”.
世贸组织将调查美国棉花补贴
英国《金融时报》弗朗西斯·威廉姆斯(Frances Williams)日内瓦报道 2006年9月29日 星期五
世贸组织(WTO)将就巴西的一项申诉进行调查，巴西指称，美国政府每年仍在为本国棉农提供高达数十亿美元的非法补贴。
The World Trade Organisation is to investigate a claim by Brazil that Washington is still illegally subsidising US cotton farmers to the tune of billions of dollars a year.
2005年3月，世贸组织做出了一项具有标志性意义的裁决，对美国支助本国棉农的几项关键计划予以谴责。作为回应，去年美国对其出口信贷体制进行了改革，从8月份开始，为购买美国棉花的工厂及出口商提供补贴的所谓“Step 2”支付安排被取消。
A landmark WTO ruling in March 2005 condemned several key US programmes that aid US cotton farmers. In response the US reformed its export credit scheme last year and the so-called Step 2 payments compensating US mills and exporters for buying US cotton were scrapped as from August.
但巴西方面表示，上述举措远未消除违规补贴，且并未触及某些在造成贸易扭曲方面作用最为明显的举措，如美国营销贷款(marketing loan)和反周期支付(countercyclical payment)计划等。
But Brazil says these moves fall far short of eliminating the offending subsidies and leave untouched some of the most trade-distorting measures, such as US marketing loan and countercyclical payment programmes.
总部位于英国的发展慈善团体——乐施会(Oxfam)表示，美国改革涉及的计划，在该国2.5万棉花生产者得到的补贴中仅占10%。
According to Oxfam, the UK-based development charity, the US reforms touch programmes accounting for 10 per cent of the subsidies received by its 25,000 cotton producers.
乐施会估计，去年美国为价值不到40亿美元的棉花收成支付了近50亿美元的补贴，使美国成为全球最大的棉花出口国。
It estimates the total paid out last year at almost $5bn on a crop worth less than $4bn, enabling the US to become the world’s biggest cotton exporter.
巴西表示，如果再次发现美国违规，该国可能寻求世贸组织的授权，对美国进行至多40亿美元的报复性制裁。
Brazil has said it could seek WTO authorisation for up to $4bn in retaliatory sanctions if the US is again found to be at fault.
在2005年的裁决中，世贸组织认同巴西的说法，即美国的棉花补贴压低了全球价格，损害了巴西及全世界棉农的利益，其中包括2000万贫困的非洲棉农。
In its 2005 ruling the WTO agreed with Brazil that US cotton subsidies depressed world prices, hurting cotton producers in Brazil and around the world including 20m poor cotton farmers in Africa.
昨日，在世贸组织争议解决机构的同一次会议上，中国政府力促推迟成立一个调查小组，该小组将对其超额征收汽车零部件关税进行调查。
At the same meeting yesterday of the WTO’s dispute settlement body, Beijing forced a delay in the establishment of a panel to investigate its tariff surcharge on auto parts.
这一要求是美国、欧盟(EU)和加拿大提出的。然而，根据世贸组织的规则，如果有关方面第二次提出要求——预计将在下月提出——中国将无法再次阻挠该小组的成立。
The challenge was brought by the US, European Union and Canada. However, under WTO rules China will not be able to block creation of a panel at the second request, expected next month.
自中国2001年12月份加入世贸组织以来，这是首次将针对中国的提案推进至成立调查小组阶段，原因是有越来越多人担忧，中国政府未能履行其入世承诺。
This is the first case against China that has been pushed to the panel stage since it joined the WTO in December 2001, amid rising concern that Beijing is failing to abide by its WTO commitments.
对中国越南鞋类征税 欧盟推迟一周投票
英国《金融时报》安德鲁·邦兹(Andrew Bounds)斯特拉斯堡报道 2006年9月28日 星期四
昨天，在对从亚洲进口的廉价鞋征收反倾销关税的问题上，欧盟各国政府间的讨价还价进一步升级，各成员国将就此问题的投票又推迟了一周。
Horse-trading among European governments over anti-dumping tariffs on cheap Asian shoe imports intensified yesterday as member states delayed a vote by a further week.
然而，地中海邻国对塞浦路斯的施压似乎收到了效果，该国表示可能支持征税。此次征收反倾销关税的举措必须在10月6日前得到批准。
However, pressure on Cyprus from its Mediterranean neighbours appeared to be paying off as it indicated it could back the duties, which must be approved by October 6.
意大利和葡萄牙宣称，这一关税对于保护它们的制鞋产业至关重要。两国的制鞋业主要由小型家族企业构成。对廉价亚洲鞋征税的问题，已成了提倡自由市场的北欧各国与南方成员国之间意见不和的标志。南方的一些欧盟国家希望对本土企业进行更多保护。
Italy and Portugal claim the tariffs are vital to protect their shoe industries, dominated by small, family businesses. The issue has become a symbol of the divide between liberal northern EU states and southern members who want more protection for local business.
法国昨天提出了一个折衷提议，即关税应维持2年，而不是欧盟贸易专员彼得?曼德尔森(Peter Mandelson)所建议的5年。曼德尔森呼吁，对中国进口鞋征收16%的关税，对越南鞋征收10%关税。
France yesterday tabled a compromise proposal that duties should last two years, rather than five as Peter Mandelson, European trade commissioner, proposed. Mr Mandelson called for tariffs of 16 per cent on Chinese and 10 per cent on Vietnamese imports.
2006全球竞争力排行榜揭晓
英国《金融时报》经济编辑克里斯?贾尔斯(Chris Giles)报道 2006年9月27日 星期三
在备受关注的世界经济论坛(World Economic Forum)年度竞争力排行榜中，美国的排名从第1位跌至第6位，落在瑞士、北欧三国和新加坡之后。
The US has been knocked off the top spot in a closely watched annual ranking of competitiveness, falling to sixth place and overtaken by Switzerland, three Nordic countries and Singapore.
经济失衡状况日益严重，公共机构相对缺乏效率和透明度，成为导致美国今年排名下滑的原因。
Growing economic imbalances and a relative lack of efficiency and transparency in US public institutions marked the country down in this year’s league table by the World Economic Forum.
排名迅速下滑的还有法国，从第12位降至第18位，原因在于其宏观经济、机构和市场效率的得分相对较低。
Also falling fast in the table was France, which declined from 12th spot to 18th, on the back of relatively weak scores for its macroeconomy, its institutions and the efficiency of its markets.
世界经济论坛的排行榜，是衡量各国经济潜力的较重要指标之一，因为它在计算总分时综合了大量不同的指标。
The WEF's ranking is one of the more significant measurements of countries’ economic potential since it aggregates an extensive number of different indicators to arrive at its overall score.
总部位于瑞士的世界经济论坛表示，已对2006-07年度排行榜进行了大规模修订，纳入了许多新的竞争力指标，提高了其作为各国中长期经济表现指针的准确度。
The ranking has been heavily revised for 2006-07, the WEF said, incorporating many new indicators of competitiveness and improving its accuracy as a guide to the medium and long-term economic performance of different countries.
但名次的微小变化（如英国从第九位降至第十位），并不说明竞争力明显下降，因为排名接近的国家彼此之间的差别很小。世界经济论坛对不同指标赋予的权重，会严重影响排名状况。
But small changes in the position in the league, such as Britain’s decline from ninth to 10th, do not reflect a serious worsening of its competitiveness, since the difference in countries rank-ed close to each other is minor. They are extremely sensitive to the weight given to different criteria by the Swiss-based think-tank.
世界经济论坛赞扬了英国的机构和产品及劳动力市场效率，但同时表示，英国企业的创新和精湛程度不及德国等国家。
The forum praised Bri-tain’s institutions and the efficiency of its product and labour markets, while claiming that its innovation and sophistication of companies were not as good as countries such as Germany.
世界经济论坛竞争力指数的主要编制者奥古斯都?洛佩斯-克劳克斯(Augusto Lopez-Claros)表示，排行榜最有用之处在于，可以察看各国总分的明显变化，了解长期趋势。
Augusto Lopez-Claros, the lead author of the WEF's competitiveness index, said the rankings were most useful in spotting big changes in countries’ overall scores and spotting trends over time.
他表示，当前人们喜欢将一切都与巴西、俄罗斯、印度和中国等增长迅速的新兴市场挂钩，但这种做法经不起密切关注。
The current fashion for anything to do with the fast-growing emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China does not bear very close scrutiny, he said.
出于对俄罗斯机构的严重担忧，该国排名从去年的第53位降至第62位。洛佩斯-克劳克斯表示，尽管油价高企让俄罗斯经济有了不俗表现，但“你必须用钱买来公正”，使企业难以在该国立足。
Russia's position fell to 62 from 53 last year on the back of serious concerns about its institutions. In spite of a good economic performance on the back of high oil prices, “you have to buy justice”, Mr Lopez-Claros said, which makes it a very difficult place to locate business.
中国的排名从第48位降至第54位，反映出该国在保护知识产权方面遇到极大困难，而巴西经济则得到“脆弱”的评价。
China's fall from 48 to 54 represented extreme difficulties with protecting intellectual property rights, while Brazil’s economy was judged as fragile.
油价跌破每桶60美元 欧佩克考虑减产
英国《金融时报》凯文?莫里森(Kevin Morrison)和哈维尔?布拉斯(Javier Blas)伦敦报道 2006年9月26日 星期二
石油出口国可能会考虑削减石油产量，此前，原油价格昨日跌至每桶60美元以下，为6个月来首次。
Oil exporting countries may consider a cut in output after crude prices fell below $60 a barrel yesterday for the first time in six months.
油价下跌之际，全球需求已从年中的顶峰水平有所回落，围绕伊朗的紧张局势也有所缓解。
The decline came as global demand fell back from its mid-year peak and tensions over Iran eased.
据悉，石油输出国组织(OPEC，欧佩克)的石油部长们对于油价下跌感到忧虑，目前油价已从近期的峰值水平下挫近四分之一。
Ministers from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries are understood to be concerned about the drop in oil prices, which are down almost a quarter from their recent peaks.
欧佩克官员表示，他们已讨论在今年12月在尼日利亚举行的下届部长级会议之前削减石油产量的可能性。
They have discussed the prospect of trimming production ahead of the oil cartel’s next ministerial meeting in Nigeria in December, according to Opec officials.
过去一个月，在油价下跌的同时，石油和其它大宗商品市场的投资者纷纷抛售，主要是担心美国经济增长放缓。
The oil price fall over the past month has been accompanied by investor selling in oil and other commodity markets, mainly on concerns that economic growth in the US is slowing.
近一个月来，投资者一直在抛售石油期货。今年早些时候，他们曾下注飓风将破坏墨西哥湾的石油供应。
Investors have been selling out of oil futures over the past month, after taking bets earlier in the year on expectations of hurricanes disrupting oil supplies in the Gulf of Mexico.
然而，随着9月底大西洋飓风季节的结束，去年那种破坏力极大的风暴几乎不可能再次出现。
But with the Atlantic hurricane season finishing at the end of September, there is little prospect of a repeat of last year’s devastating storms.
欧佩克不仅担心石油市场上的投资者行为，还为保持石油出口价格高企操心，高油价支撑着欧佩克成员国的政府预算。
Opec is not only worried about investor activity in oil markets, but also about preserving high export prices, which underpin government budgets in member countries.
最近几年，由于油价飙升，许多欧佩克产油国启动了巨额开支计划。
Many Opec producers have embarked on big spending programmes in recent years on the back of the higher oil price.
在维也纳最近召开的欧佩克会议上，该组织将产量配额维持在每日2800万桶，接近该组织上月的实际产量。
Opec maintained its quota of 28m barrels a day at its recent meeting in Vienna, and this is close to the cartel’s actual production last month.
自去年底以来，欧佩克关键成员国和全球最大石油出口国沙特一直在削减石油产量。
Saudi Arabia, Opec’s linchpin member and the world’s largest oil exporter, has been cutting its output since the end of last year.
如果欧佩克果真削减其官方石油产量上限的话，这将是该组织自2004年12月以来首次削减产量，当时石油价格接近每桶42美元。
If Opec does trim its official production ceiling, it would be the first cut since December 2004, when oil prices were close to $42 a barrel.
瑞士信贷要省钱
英国《金融时报》欧洲并购记者丽娜?塞格(Lina Saigol)
2006年9月25日 星期一
瑞士信贷(Credit Suisse)要求投行员工削减彩色影印、员工聚会和款待客户等项开支，力图降低该银行的成本基础。
Credit Suisse has ordered investment bankers to cut back on colour photocopying, staff parties and client entertainment in an attempt to reduce the Swiss bank’s cost base.
该银行投行业务负责人杜德恒(Brady Dougan)在一份内部备忘录上提出了上述开支削减方案，这些方案之所以不一般，是因为该行业正处于2000年以来最大的繁荣期间。银行通常会在低迷时期强制施行节约举措，在互联网泡沫破灭后，高盛(Goldman Sachs)终止了免费水果的供应。
The cutbacks – set out in an internal memorandum from Brady Dougan, head of investment banking – are unusual because they come during the biggest boom in the sector since 2000. Typically banks impose savings during downturns, with Goldman Sachs ending free fruit after the dotcom bubble burst.
杜德恒表示：“管理我们的开支，在我们的战略和工作中都是一个关键组成部分。你可以对所有支出提出质疑，以确保它们是必要的，以此尽到自己的职责。”
“Managing our expenses is both a critical part of our strategy and our jobs. You can do your part by challenging all spending to ensure that it is necessary,” Mr Dougan said.
交易完成后的庆功宴已被大幅削减，随着交易活动的复苏，此类宴会一度重新盛行。同时，只有在招聘董事总经理职位的人选时，才会使用猎头公司。
Dinners to celebrate the successful conclusion of deals, which had returned with the resurgence of deal activity, have been radically reduced. The use of headhunters has been limited to filling managing director positions only.
此外，订购办公室用品和设备受到了限制，而彩色影印仅限用于客户陈述报告。
In addition, ordering office supplies and equipment has been curbed, while colour photocopying has been limited to client presentations only.
杜德恒的节约举措可能被视为小打小闹，因为大多数投行的成本基础主要由工资和奖金构成。
Mr Dougan's cuts are likely to be seen as tinkering around the edges, as most of any investment bank’s cost base is made up of wages and bonuses.
开采油气谈何容易？
英国《金融时报》卡萝拉?霍约斯(Carola Hoyos)伦敦报道 2006年9月22日 星期五
一份行业研究显示，发现新油气储量的成本已大幅上升，使得国际石油公司的境况更加糟糕。
The costs of finding additional reserves of oil and gas have soared, an industry study shows, adding to the malaise of international oil companies.
“鉴于增加的资本投入未能转化为新增储量，储量替代成本飙升了73%，”一项针对200家油气公司的研究发现。
“Reserves replacement costs surged 73 per cent as increased capital spending did not translate into incremental reserve additions,” a study of 200 oil and gas companies found.
该研究的作者发现，全球已探明油气储量仅上升了2%，至2577亿桶，而产量增加了1%，接近190亿桶。本研究由休斯敦研究公司John S. Herold和英国咨询公司Harrison Lovegrove共同完成。
The world's proved reserves of oil and gas rose just 2 per cent to 257.7bn barrels, while production increased 1 per cent to just shy of 19bn barrels, the authors of the study, John S. Herold, the Houston-based research company, and Harrison Lovegrove, the London advisers, found.
2005年，尽管开发成本上升了370亿美元（涨幅达30%），至1590亿美元，但产量仅增加了1%。
While development costs rose $37bn, or 30 per cent, to $159bn in 2005, they yielded just a 1 per cent increase in output.
“油气公司须增加30%的支出才能维持现有产量，”Harrison Lovegrove董事总经理罗德尼?施密特(Rodney Schmidt)表示。“钱投进去了，产量却不见涨。”
“They are spending 30 per cent more just to stand still,” said Rodney Schmidt, managing director at Harrison Lovegrove. “The money has been there, but the barrels have not.”
2005年，油气公司的勘探支出达360亿美元。这意味着，2005年全行业为增加1%的油气产量而花费的资金，要比用于勘探储量的支出还多。它们必须勘探这些储量，以满足未来数十年全球经济增长的需要。
Companies spent $36bn on exploration in 2005. That meant that in 2005 the industry as a whole spent more money producing that extra 1 per cent of oil and gas than it spent exploring for the reserves that will feed the world’s economic growth in the years and decades to come.
造成这一局面的部分原因是，各家公司被拒绝进入世界上大部分最大的油气田。相反，它们现在不得不投资日益艰巨、冒险和昂贵的项目，因为墨西哥和沙特等拥有丰富油气资源的国家目前正紧闭外商投资的大门。
Part of the reason is that companies are denied access to most of the world’s biggest oil and gas fields. Instead, they are having to embark on ever more ambitious, risky and costly projects as nations rich in oil and gas, such as Mexico and Saudi Arabia, are keeping their doors closed to foreign investment.
同时，越来越多有国际石油公司作业的国家，正夺回对项目的控制权。本周，俄罗斯政府采取行动，通过撤销环境许可证，暂停了荷兰皇家壳牌(Royal Dutch Shell)的萨哈林2号(Sakhalin II)项目。
Meanwhile, growing numbers of countries in which international oil companies operate are wresting back control over the projects. This week Russian authorities moved to halt work on Royal Dutch Shell’s Sakhalin II project by withdrawing an environmental permit.
此外，由于收入猛增，石油公司(尤其在欧洲和美国)正受到严格审查。以本次调查覆盖的200家油气公司为例，它们2005年的营收猛增37%，至6990亿美元。但分析师警告称，这些公司的成本正以更快的速度上升，意味着如果油价下跌，它们的利润率将承受严峻压力。
Meanwhile, in Europe and the US in particular oil companies are coming under much scrutiny because of their surging revenues, which jumped 37 per cent to $699bn in 2005 for the 200 companies in the survey. But the companies’ costs are rising even faster, meaning that a fall in the oil price would put profit margins under serious pressure, analysts warned.
“即使油价维持在近期水平，我们预计利润率也将面临压力，”施密特先生称。“这最终会影响到股东，因为它会令股息与股票回购承受压力。”
“Even if oil prices remain at prices we have seen recently, we expect pressure on margins,” said Mr Schmidt. “It matters to the shareholder ultimately as it puts dividends and share buybacks under pressure.”
丰田拟在新兴市场投放低价小型车
英国《金融时报》真理子·桑查塔(Mariko Sanchanta)东京报道 2006年9月21日 星期四
世界第二大汽车制造商丰田(Toyota)昨日表示，该公司计划在巴西、印度和俄罗斯等新兴市场推出低价小型轿车，以期赶上竞争对手。
Toyota, the world’s second- biggest carmaker, said yesterday it aims to launch low-priced compact cars in emerging markets including Brazil, India and Russia in a bid to catch up with its competitors.
丰田此举紧紧跟随着世界最大汽车制造商通用汽车(General Motors)的步伐。后者上月宣布，将投资3亿美元在印度建设一家工厂，生产雪佛兰(Chevrolet) Spark轿车，定价将在6000至8000美元之间。
Its move comes on the heels of top carmaker General Motors' announcement last month that it would build a $300m plant in India to produce the Chevrolet Spark, to be priced between $6,000 and $8,000.
丰田汽车目前尚未开始在有利可图的印度市场生产小型车。印度消费者对价格较为敏感，因而车型较小的车更具吸引力。
Toyota does not currently produce a compact car in the lucrative Indian market, where smaller vehicles appeal to more price-conscious customers.
俄罗斯叫停萨哈林油气项目 遭国际社会反对
英国《金融时报》记者联合报道 2006年9月20日 星期三
俄罗斯昨天因威胁将停止一能源项目而面临国际社会的齐声反对，该能源项目耗资达200亿美元，由荷兰皇家壳牌(Royal Dutch Shell)牵头。
Russia was yesterday facing a concerted international backlash over its threat to halt work on a $20bn energy project led by Royal Dutch Shell.
日本的反对声音最响。日本内阁官房长官、下届首相的热门人选安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)警告说，俄罗斯如付诸行动，将有损国际关系并危及外国投资。欧洲各国政府也表达了各自的担忧，英国则表示已向俄政府提出抗议。
Japan led the chorus of anger with Shinzo Abe, chief cabinet secretary and front-runner to be the next prime minister, warning the move would damage international relations and jeopardise foreign investment. European governments also voiced their concern with Britain saying it had protested to the Russian authorities.
俄罗斯自然资源部周一宣布，政府颁发给俄罗斯远东地区萨哈林2号项目(Sakhalin-2)的一个关键的环境许可证无效。如果该决定得到俄罗斯工业安全机构的核准，这个油气项目的开发工作就将被中止。
On Monday Russia's natural resources ministry revoked a key environmental permit for the Sakhalin-2 project in the far east of the country. If ratified by Russia’s industrial safety agency, work on the gas and oil development would be halted.
俄罗斯坚称，政府收回萨哈林2号项目环境许可证的做法并非出于政治动机。俄罗斯自然资源部环境监察局副局长奥勒根?米特沃尔(Oleg Mitvol)指责该项目的运营者严重违反了环保法，包括对海洋和河流造成污染。
Russia insisted its move to cancel the environmental permit for Sakhalin-2 was not politically motivated. Oleg Mitvol, deputy head of Russia’s environmental watchdog, accused the project operators of serious breaches of environmental law, including marine and river pollution.
但俄罗斯还采取了另一个行动，俄检察官威胁将暂停英俄合资企业TNK-BP开发科维克塔(Kovykta)的勘探执照。科维克塔是一巨型气田，位于东西伯利亚。
But in a separate move, Russian prosecutors have threatened to suspend an exploration licence for TNK-BP, the Anglo-Russian joint venture, to develop Kovykta, the massive gas field in Eastern Siberia.
一位知情人士表示，东西伯利亚首府伊尔库茨克的检察官要求当地自然资源机构以环保和未能履行条款为由，暂停TNK-BP的执照。
A source familiar with the situation said prosecutors in Irkutsk, the capital of Eastern Siberia, demanded that a local agency for natural resources suspends TNK-BP’s licence on environmental grounds and for failing to fulfil its terms.
外界广泛认为，俄罗斯暂停壳牌执照的做法，是俄罗斯政府想在该项目中获得更多股权的一个手段。昨天俄政府强烈驳斥了这一指责。
The suspension of Shell’s permit has been widely seen as a tactic to secure a better stake in the project for the Russian government; a charge the authorities strongly rejected yesterday.
俄方行动对日本的影响最大。日本方面认为，来自萨哈林的油气对于强化其能源安全、降低对中东市场的依赖至关重要。
The move was keenly felt in Japan where gas and oil from Sakhalin have been seen as crucial for strengthening Japan’s energy security and reducing its dependence on the Middle East.
三井物产(Mitsui)和三菱商事(Mitsubishi)两家日本贸易公司分别拥有该项目25%和20%股权。其余55%股权归壳牌所有。
Mitsui and Mitsubishi, two Japanese trading companies, own 25 per cent and 20 per cent of the project respectively. The remaining 55 per cent is owned by Shell.
IMF增加中韩等国投票权 2006年9月19日 星期二
英国《金融时报》克里斯·贾尔斯(Chris Giles)新加坡、拉尔夫·阿特金斯(Ralph Atkins)法兰克福报道
对国际货币基金组织(IMF)进行根本改革的提议昨天获得了成员国90.6%的投票通过。
The proposal to start a fundamental reform of the International Monetary Fund was approved yesterday by 90.6 per cent of votes from member countries.
这一决定得到了该基金所有大型股东的支持，决定将立即增加中国、韩国、墨西哥和土耳其的投票权。此次改革旨在根据各国在世界经济中的比重，平衡其在国际货币基金组织的投票权。改革措施还将对计算投票权的基本方法进行审核，着眼于在两年内对其进行更广泛的修改。
The decision, supported by all the fund’s large shareholders, will provide additional voting power immediately to China, South Korea, Mexico and Turkey. The reform aiming to balance IMF voting power in accordance with each country’s economic weight in the world also launches a review of the underlying formula for calculating votes with a view to a more extensive overhaul within two years.
在国际货币基金组织的182个成员国中，只有23个投了反对票，投赞成票的成员国超过所需的85%比例。虽然表示反对的国家中包括巴西和印度，但即使国际货币基金组织每个成员国都拥有一票，这些国家也无法获得阻止提议通过的少数票。
Support was in excess of the 85 per cent needed, with only 23 countries out of 182 IMF members voting against. Although they include Brazil and India, the dissenting countries could not have secured a blocking minority even if each IMF member had one vote.
许多投反对票的国家来自拉美或中东地区。
Many of the dissenting countries were from Latin America or the Middle East.
“这些治理改革对我们这个机构的未来非常重要”国际货币基金组织总裁罗德里戈?拉托(Rodrigo Rato)将于今天的一次演说中表示。“还有很多工作要做，但这次投票是一个很好的开端。它表明，国际合作精神仍然存在，并活跃在国际货币基金组织。”
“These governance reforms are tremendously important for the future of our institution,” Rodrigo Rato, the IMF managing director, will say in a speech today. “There is much work to do, but this vote is a great start. It shows that the spirit of international co-operation is alive and well at the fund.”
昨天的结果并不能确保第二阶段获得成功，一些困难得多的问题须在该阶段解决。几乎每个已发表意见的国家都表示，它们更倾向用一种不同的投票计算方法，来决定它们的经济比重。
Yesterday's result does not guarantee success in the second stage, when much more difficult issues will need to be addressed. Almost every country that has voiced an opinion has expressed a preference for a different formula to determine their economic weight.
外界目前呼吁12个欧元区国家的政府领导人或外交部长绕开各国财政部长，共同争取欧元区在国际货币基金组织等金融机构中行使单一代表权。
Government leaders or foreign ministers from the 12 eurozone countries are being urged to bypass finance ministers to push jointly for single eurozone representation at financial organisations such as the IMF.
据欧洲央行(ECB)执委会委员洛伦佐·比尼·斯马吉(Lorenzo Bini Smaghi)称，在国际机构的合法性和权威性遭到质疑之际，“欧洲无法减少其代表人数，也不能统一口径，使其与其它主要国家的关系面临紧张”。
“Europe's inability to reduce its number of representatives and speak with one voice creates tensions with other major countries” at a time when the legitimacy and authority of international institutions is being challenged, according to Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, executive board member of the European Central Bank.
七国集团再次呼吁人民币升值 2006年9月18日 星期一
英国《金融时报》克里斯·贾尔斯(Chris Giles)、克里什纳·古哈(Krishna Guha)新加坡报道
欧洲国家和日本的财政部长对近来日元汇率急剧下跌一致表示忧虑，试图阻止日元进一步下挫。
Finance ministers from Europe and Japan, voicing concern over the recent sharp decline of the yen, have launched a co- ordinated effort designed to stop the currency falling further.
日本财务大臣谷垣祯一(Sadakazu Tanigaki)在上周末的讲话中表示，日元汇率应该反映正在复苏的日本经济，他补充称，日元汇率近来的下跌 “幅度有点大”。
Speaking this weekend, Sadakazu Tanigaki, Japanese finance minister, said the yen’s value should reflect Japan's economy, which is recovering, adding that the recent drop had been a “little rough”.
欧洲央行(European Central Bank)行长让-克洛德?特里谢(Jean-Claude Trichet)表示：“我们注意到（日本）已放弃了零利率政策，而且该国经济正出现全面复苏。我们一致认为，日元汇率将反映出这些变化。”
Jean Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, said: “We noted that [Japan] had exited its zero interest rate policy, that its recovery is now broad-based. We agreed that the yen will reflect these developments”.
英国《金融时报》获悉，上述言论是一项协调一致的努力，反映出人们对日元兑欧元汇率跌至创纪录低点的担忧。今年，日元兑欧元汇率累计跌逾6%，自2000以来累计跌幅超过40%。
The Financial Times understands that the comments were a co-ordinated move, reflecting concerns that the yen has fallen to record lows against the euro, having dropped by more than 6 per cent this year and more than 40 per cent since 2000.
七国集团(G7)还继续就人民币升值问题对中国施压，并重复了其4月份提出的“加大人民币汇率弹性” 的要求，但这些强硬措辞，并未促使中国官员做出即将对人民币汇率采取行动的表态。
The G7 also maintained pressure on China to revalue the renmimbi, repeating the call it made in April for “greater exchange rate flexibility”, but the strong language did not persuade Chinese officials to signal an imminent move on the currency.
七国集团的财长和央行行长们对发达经济体的前景作出了总体乐观的评估，表示“尽管美国经济增长势头趋缓，总体表现仍然强劲”。但在成员更多的国际货币基金组织(IMF)理事会中，对通胀压力的担忧重新燃起。
Ministers and central bank governors of the G7 presented a generally upbeat assessment of the prospects for advanced economies, noting that “performance remains strong amid moderating growth in the United States”. But at the wider governing body of the IMF, there was renewed concern about inflationary pressures.
IMF同时表示，该组织在通过其“多边监督”程序解决全球贸易失衡问题方面，正在取得进展。IMF总裁罗德里戈?拉托(Rodrigo Rato)表示：“我认为，让五大经济体在IMF这样的多边机构讨论全球失衡问题，就找出这些问题的解决方法而言，已经是非常重要的一步。”
The IMF also said it was making progress on resolving global trade imbalances through its “multilateral surveillance” process. Rodrigo Rato, IMF managing director, said: “I think that engaging five economies in discussing global imbalances in a multilateral institution like the IMF is already a very important step in addressing how to resolve those issues”.
高层官员表示，这种乐观气氛在一定程度上是回应有关“过度关注世界经济风险”的担忧。
The air of optimism was, in part, a response to worries that too much emphasis was being placed on economic risks in the world, senior officials said.
全球经济：为未来再投资
作者：国际货币基金组织首席经济学家 拉古拉姆·瑞占(Raghuram Rajan) 2006年9月15日 星期五
面对大宗商品价格不断飙升等不利因素，全球经济已连续第4年保持强劲增长。尽管美国经济增长开始放缓，但欧元区已获得动力。日本经济的扩张仍在继续，新兴市场和发展中国家实现了惊人的增长率。是什么造就了这种杰出表现？它能够持续下去吗？
For the fourth consecutive year, world economic growth has remained strong in the face of such headwinds as soaring commodities prices. While the US economy is beginning to slow, the eurozone has gained momentum. Japan’s expansion continues and emerging markets and developing countries are delivering impressive growth rates. What accounts for this tremendous performance? Can it last?
信息技术革命以及通过建立全球供应链而实现的生产合理化，促进了生产率的增长，并使其在全球经济扩张中发挥了关键作用。虽然人们对1995年以来美国生产率的惊人增长非常关注，但新兴市场同样惊人的生产率增长，却几乎没有引起注意。
Productivity growth, fostered by the revolution in information technology and the rationalisation of production through the creation of global supply chains, has played a critical role in this expansion. While attention has focused on the extraordinary surge in US productivity since 1995, equally impressive productivity growth in emerging markets has drawn little comment.
全球生产率出人意料地快速增长，能够解释下列现象：为什么大宗商品的需求如此强劲；为什么新兴市场能够经受住大宗商品价格的上涨，而没有造成明显的投资减速；为什么尽管原材料成本涨幅空前，通货膨胀基本上仍能得到抑制；以及为什么家庭收入和企业利润同时颇为强劲。
Rapid and largely unexpected worldwide productivity growth can explain why the demand for commodities is so strong; why emerging markets have weathered commodities price increases without a serious slowdown in investment; why inflation is still largely contained despite the unprecedented rise in raw material costs and why both household incomes and corporate profits are buoyant at the same time.
运输和通信成本下降以及贸易壁垒减少促成的全球竞争加剧，在这一过程中也发挥了关键作用。竞争不仅为制造商提供了提高生产率的动力，而且有助于抑制工资上涨。为此，大宗商品等其它供应不足的生产资料价格被抬高，使生产率激增的益处惠及大宗商品生产商。
The rise in global competition, fostered by the fall in transport and communication costs, as well as the reduction of trade barriers, has played a key role in this process. Competition has not only provided incentives for manufacturers to raise productivity, but helped contain wage growth. As a result, other inputs in short supply such as commodities have been bid up, spreading the benefits of the productivity surge to commodity producers.
在美国等国家，表现强劲的国内金融市场促进了金融创新，将资源重新配置到生产率最高的行业。新的金融产品使消费者能够预支未来的收入，立即进行消费。这些国家都有经常账户赤字，而那些市场不太成熟、不善于将经济增长转化为内需的国家提供的资金，在很大程度上弥补了这些缺口。
In countries such as the US, strong domestic financial markets have helped finance innovation and reallocate resources to the most productive sectors. New financial products have allowed consumers to borrow against future incomes and consume immediately. These countries have run current account deficits, largely financed by countries whose less sophisticated markets have been less able to translate growth into domestic demand.
什么因素可能破坏这一美好前景呢？在我们这个一体化的世界里，通胀压力的决定因素，不仅仅是某个经济体接近产能极限的程度，还包括全球经济接近产能极限的程度。在全球范围内，受过教育且技术熟练的劳动力日益紧缺。尽管有证据表明美国的生产率增长已开始放缓，但工资水平仍在以更快的速度上涨。生产率增长放缓降低了潜在经济增长率，即在不会加快通货膨胀的情况下能够实现的经济增长率。
What could mar this rosy picture? In our integrated world, inflationary pressures are determined not just by how close an economy is to capacity but by how close the world is to capacity. Increasingly, an educated and skilled labour force is in tight supply the world over. Wages are growing even faster, despite evidence that productivity growth in the US has been slowing. Slower productivity growth lowers the potential growth of the economy – the growth it can achieve without accelerating inflation.
对美联储(Fed)而言，关键问题在于，它的利率“药方”，是否足以使美国经济减缓至潜在增长预期范围的低端。尽管住宅市场放缓的速度高于预期，但受就业和工资增长的推动，消费并未减弱。此外，过去的货币紧缩举措和住房交易活动的放缓，均可能具有滞后效应。由于住宅市场放缓的效应可能呈现非线性特点，价格的大幅下跌会打击公众信心，金融领域也不会幸免于难，因此，美联储需要仔细权衡进一步的行动。它还必须认识到这样一种可能性：如果人们对高通胀预期“见怪不怪”，那么要降低预期，就需要更大幅度地加息，使经济增长付出沉重代价。
The key question for the US Federal Reserve is whether the interest rate medicine it has administered is sufficient to slow the economy to the lower estimates of potential growth. While the housing market is slowing more rapidly than expected, consumption has not weakened, buoyed as it is by jobs and wage growth. Moreover, the effects of both past monetary tightening and the housing slowdown on activity are likely to operate with lags. With the effects of the housing slowdown likely to be non-linear – a big fall in prices will deal a blow to public confidence and the financial sector will not remain unscathed – the Fed has to weigh further moves carefully. It must also be cognisant of the possibility that if high inflation expectations become entrenched, bringing them down will require even higher rates and come at a significant cost to growth.
美国经济增长的放缓，可能使其经常账户赤字收窄，但这并不是没有风险的。外国投资者之所以为其赤字提供资金，在一定程度上是因为美国的经济实力。如果重新评估美国的吸引力，他们会要求更高的溢价来为美国贷款提供融资，从而会影响美国的利率和美元汇率。
Slower growth in the US could narrow its current account deficit, but this is not without risks. Foreign investors fund the deficit partly because of the strength of the US economy. If they reassess its attractiveness, they will demand a higher premium to finance US borrowing, with consequences for interest rates and the dollar.
这些情况并非不可避免。即便美国经济明显减速，欧元区和日本等大型经济体的生产率也可能迎头赶上。但这要求加强国内竞争，将资源重新配置到生产率更高的经济活动，并更好地利用劳动力。结构性改革遇到的政治障碍，可能会阻碍生产率的提高。政治因素已影响到跨境并购活动。随着多哈回合贸易谈判的搁置，全球竞争加剧带来的生产率的提高也受到威胁。政界人士追逐所谓“国家优势”，最终得到的必将是“集体劣势”。
None of this is inevitable. Even if the US slows significantly, large economies such as the eurozone and Japan could catch up in productivity. But this requires greater domestic competition, reallocation of resources to more productive activity and better utilisation of labour. Political impediments to structural reform could come in the way of catch-up. Politics has already interrupted cross-border mergers and acquisitions. With the Doha trade round suspended, productivity growth from rising global competition is also under threat. In the name of national advantage, politicians are once again ensuring collective disadvantage.
好政策很少会为经济增长带来立竿见影的益处。全球经济的强劲增长，缘于以往的政策加强了竞争，提高了经济的可持续性和灵活性。要想让美好时光得以延续，各国领导层应该调整重点，不再吃老本，而是要为未来进行再投资。
Good policy rarely has immediate benefits for growth. The strong world economy is due to past policies to enhance competition, economic sustainability and flexibility. For the good times to continue, leaders should re-focus from spending the dividend to reinvesting for the future.
本文作者是国际货币基金组织(IMF)首席经济学家。
The writer is economic counsellor and director of research at the IMF
IMF upbeat about global outlook IMF看好全球经济前景 2006年9月14日 星期四
国际货币基金组织(IMF)首席经济学家拉古拉姆?拉詹(Raghuram Rajan)的观点可以概括为两个方面：一方面庆祝世界经济4年来的出色表现，另一方面警告大好时光可能会惨淡收场。
A celebration of four excellent years for the world economy and warnings that the good times could end in tears: that sums up the views of Raghuram Rajan, the International Monetary Fund’s chief economist.
国际货币基金组织与世界银行(World Bank)的年会本周末将在新加坡召开。在此之前，拉詹先生在伦敦接受了《金融时报》采访并在本报今天的报纸上撰文。他的观点表明，国际货币基金组织对世界经济的基本状况及其前景比先前更为乐观。
Speaking to the Financial Times in London ahead of the IMF and World Bank’s annual meeting in Singapore this weekend and writing in today’s newspaper, Mr Rajan shows that the fund is happier about both the underpinnings of the world economy and its prospects.
国际货币基金组织透露了对经济所作的部分预测(《金融时报》上周发表了这些内容)，它们显示，该组织预计2006年全球经济增长为5.1%，而相比之下，该组织于今年4月所作的上一次预测为4.8%。
A leak of the fund’s economic forecasts, published in the FT last week, showed it now expects global economic growth of 5.1 per cent in 2006, compared with its previous forecast of 4.8 per cent in April.
国际货币基金组织的《世界经济展望》(World Economic Outlook)将于今天发表，届时有关上述数据和拉詹想法的真实性将得到证实。该基金组织预计，2007年，发达国家的经济增长将减速，但随着新兴国家的经济蓬勃发展，世界经济仍将增长4.9%。
These figures and Mr Rajan’s thoughts will be confirmed in the publication of the IMF’s World Economic Outlook today. In 2007 the fund expects a slowing of advanced economies but with emerging countries powering ahead, the world is still set to grow by 4.9 per cent.
拉詹先生在接受《金融时报》采访时表达了一种新的忧虑，即随着新的政策改革陷入停滞，一度支撑了世界经济的生产率增长可能会逐渐消失。
A new concern Mr Rajan expressed while talking to the FT Financial Times, was that the productivity gains that have underpinned the world economy might peter out as fresh policy reforms stall.
“我目前看到的情况，是政策改革的紧迫性还相当低，”他表示。
“What I see now is the urgency for policy reform is rather muted,” he says.
一种日益高涨的预测是，全球经济明年将出现衰退。对此拉詹并不认同。“风险是双方面的，”他表示。通胀和美国经济放缓是美国的风险。“关键问题是，经济放缓是否足以压制通胀压力，或是否需要进一步升息。”
Mr Rajan disagrees with the growing voices predicting a recession next year. “The risks are two-sided,” he says. Inflation and a US slowdown are risks to the US. “The million-dollar question is whether the slowdown is enough to quell the inflationary pressure or whether you need more rate rises.”
但在拉詹看来，最主要的问题仍是不断扩大的全球贸易失衡。它导致美国背负巨额贸易逆差，而中国、石油出口国和日本则相应获得了大量盈余。
But the elephant in the room as far Mr Rajan is concerned is still the yawning global trade imbalances that result in a huge US trade deficit and correspondingly large surpluses in China, oil exporters and Japan.
过去18个月中，国际货币资金组织曾警告说，无序解决这些失衡，会使美元大幅贬值、全球利率大幅上升和全球经济衰退，从而增加金融市场紊乱和保护主义再度抬头的风险。
For the past 18 months, the fund has warned of a disorderly unwinding of these imbalances, involving a slump in the US dollar, much higher global interest rates and a global recession, risking chaos in financial markets and a resurgence of protectionism.
该组织呼吁，美国应减少预算赤字，欧洲和日本应加快内部经济改革，中国要推动国内消费并允许人民币进一步升值，其余亚洲国家应加大投资力度，以及“亚洲新兴经济体增加汇率弹性”，即委婉地敦促中国让人民币进一步升值。
It has called on the US to reduce its budget deficit, Europe and Japan to speed domestic economic reforms, China to boost consumption and revalue the renminbi, and the rest of Asia to increase investment. and “greater exchange rate flexibility in emerging Asia”, a euphemism for Chinese revaluation of the renmimbi.
China reins in economic expansion 中国抑制经济过热初见成效 2006年9月13日 星期三
8月份中国固定资产投资及货币供应量增长速度明显放缓，这有力地证明，政府的紧缩举措，正在抑制中国经济的迅速扩张。
China's growth in fixed-asset investment and its money supply slowed considerably in August, providing firm evidence that the government’s tightening measures were reining in the country’s rapid economic expansion.
8月份，中国城市固定资产投资较上年同期增长21.5%，与1至7月份期间30.5%的扩张速度相比，有明显放缓；同时也是自2004年12月以来，单月增幅最低的一个月。广义货币供应量M2上月增长17.9%，而7月份和6月份的增幅均为18.4%。
Urban fixed-asset investment in August rose 21.5 per cent compared with a year ago, a marked slowdown from the 30.5 per cent expansion from January through July and the slowest for a single month since December 2004. M2, the broad indicator for money supply, rose 17.9 per cent last month compared with 18.4 per cent in July and June.
中国经济一直在以创纪录的速度增长，第二季度的增幅为11.3%。中国政府官员和许多经济学家担心，长远而言，这样的增长速度难以维持。
China's economy has been growing at a record pace, expanding by 11.3 per cent in the second quarter. Beijing officials and many economists are concerned that such growth rates are not sustainable in the longer term.
中国国家统计局(National Bureau of Statistics)局长邱晓华发布的最新经济数据显示，中国政府能够控制对房地产等行业的过渡放贷和投资，这些行业尤其存在过热风险。
The latest economic data, which were released by Qiu Xiaohua, commissioner of China’s National Bureau of Statistics, suggest Beijing has been able to control excessive lending and investment to sectors such as real estate that are especially at risk of overheating.
中国政府正通过货币和行政调控手段相结合的方式，努力缓和经济增长。自4月底以来，中国央行已两度上调基准贷款利率和银行存款准备金比率。昨日，央行还在其例行的公开市场操作中，创纪录地完成2250亿元人民币（合283亿美元）的资金回笼工作。
Beijing is using a combination of monetary and administrative controls in its attempts to moderate growth. Since late April, China’s central bank has twice raised benchmark lending rates and bank reserve requirements. Yesterday it also mopped up a record Rmb225bn ($28.3bn) in its regular open market operations.
本周，中国央行副行长苏宁在北京举行的一个国际会议上表示，由于上述措施，中国的货币供应“明显”放缓。
Su Ning, the deputy central bank governor, said this week at an international conference in Beijing that the country’s money supply was slowing “dramatically” as a result of these measures.
与此同时，中国领导人正试图控制非必要的生产——例如，在钢铁、水泥和汽车等关键行业，限制土地使用权并强制执行各种环保标准。
At the same time, China's leaders are trying to control unnecessary production – for instance by limiting land rights and enforcing environmental standards in key industries such as steel, cement and automobiles.
中国政府还对城市地产项目（包括住宅、写字楼和工业园区）上的过度放贷，以及可能由此导致的人为高价和供应过度感到担忧。
Beijing is also worried about overlending to urban property projects, including residences, offices and industrial parks, and the threat it could lead to artificially high prices and excess supply.
在努力遏制信贷和投资增长的同时，中国政府还试图刺激消费支出，因为它认为，一个强大的中产阶层，将成为未来经济增长的关键驱动力。
While trying to temper credit and investment growth, Beijing is also attempting to stimulate consumer spending, since it believes a strong middle class will be a key driver of future growth.
中国国家统计局表示，8月份，社会消费品零售总额较上年同期增长13.8%，这一幅度与前两个月持平。石油产品、珠宝、汽车和建筑方面的需求一直特别强劲。
China's statistics body said August retail sales were up 13.8 per cent, a rate consistent with that of the previous two months. Demand for oil products, jewellery, automobiles and building has been particularly strong.
Opec sparks slump in oil price 欧佩克维持产量 引发全球油价下跌 2006年9月12日 星期二
油价昨日跌至3月底以来的最低水平。此前，石油输出国组织(OPEC，欧佩克)同意维持产量配额不变。
Oil prices fell yesterday to their lowest level since the end of March after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to keep production quotas unchanged.
但欧佩克成员国表示，它们可能在今年晚些时候削减产量，以抑制国际油价进一步下跌。
But members of the cartel signalled they might reduce output later this year to limit any further fall in world oil prices.
伦敦交易时段尾盘，欧洲基准的布伦特原油期货价格下跌1.09美元，至每桶64.24美元，接近5个多月以来的最低水平，较一个多月前78.65美元的历史高位下跌超过18%。
The European benchmark, Brent, dropped $1.09 to $64.24 a barrel in late afternoon London trade, and near its lowest level in more than five months. It is now more than 18 per cent down on its record high of $78.65, touched a little more than a month ago.
但雷曼兄弟(Lehman Brothers)首席能源经济学家爱德华?莫尔斯(Edward Morse)表示，油价不太可能继续下跌。他表示：“我们度过了一个完美的间歇期，但这不是一个转折点，并不意味着油价会继续下滑。”
But Edward Morse, chief energy economist at Lehman Brothers, said prices were unlikely to carry on falling. “We have had the perfect lull, but it is not a turning point when prices will continue to decline,” he said.
莫尔斯表示，油价的下跌反映出：伊朗核问题引发的西方国家与伊朗之间的紧张局势有所缓和，以色列与黎巴嫩之间的冲突终止，墨西哥湾地区未遭飓风袭击，以及美国夏季驾驶季节结束。
Mr Morse said the fall reflected the easing of tension between the west and Iran over its nuclear ambitions, the end of the Israel-Lebanon conflict, lack of hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico region and an end to the US summer driving season.
沙特阿拉伯石油大臣阿里?纳伊米(Ali Naimi)对此次油价下跌不以为然，称之为“暂时现象”。
Ali Naimi, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister, shrugged off the fall in prices, calling it “a blip”.
欧佩克的石油部长们同意将该组织的官方产量维持在每天2800万桶的水平，尽管受配额约束的10个成员国目前的日产量比配额少50万桶。
Opec ministers agreed to keep the cartel’s official production at 28m barrels a day, even though the 10-members that abide by quotas are producing 500,000 b/d less than the quota.
由于欧佩克产量低于官方限额，分析人士表示，该组织或许会在12月份于尼日利亚举行的下次会议上削减产量。
With the cartel producing below official limits, analysts said Opec may cut at its next meeting in Nigeria in December.
华盛顿咨询公司PFC energy分析师卡尔?卡拉布罗(Carl Calabro)表示：“过程现在开始了。自它们上次被迫削减产量，已经过去了好几年。”
“The process is starting now. It’s been several years since they’ve had to cut back,” said Carl Calabro, analyst at PFC energy, the Washington-based consulting firm.
卡拉布罗表示，市场中的燃油已经过剩，特别是在新加坡，美国也存在这种情况，美国的库存比正常水平高出了25%。莫尔斯认为，市场对库存的关注有些过度，因为要将库存维持在“舒适水平”，即满足未来50天至55天需求，全球库存的绝对量仍必须增加。
Mr Calabro said there was already a surplus of fuel oil in the market, in particular in Singapore, but also in the US, where inventories are 25 per cent higher than normal. Mr Morse said the focus on inventories was overdone, as global inventories in absolute terms will have to continue to grow to maintain the “comfort level” of between 50 and 55 days of forward demand cover.
Russia plans tenfold rise in oil and gas exports to Asia 普京：俄罗斯将大幅增加对亚洲能源出口
2006年9月11日 星期一
俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔?普京(Vladimir Putin)表示，为寻求提升其作为一个全球能源供应国的政治及经济地位，该国计划大幅增加向亚洲出口石油和天然气。
Russia plans a massive increase in the scale of its exports of oil and gas to Asia in its quest to expand its political and economic role as a global energy supplier, Vladimir Putin has said.
普京称，俄罗斯计划在10至15年内，将石油和天然气产量的30%出口至亚洲，目前这一比例为3%。
According to the Russian president, it plans to export 30 per cent of its oil and gas to Asia in 10-15 years compared with 3 per cent today,
普京表示，俄罗斯将继续在市场中“以负责任的方式行事”。但他雄心勃勃的目标，将引发欧盟(EU)的担忧。作为俄罗斯能源的最大进口者，欧盟担心，俄罗斯石油和天然气出口亚洲，有朝一日会影响到欧盟的供应。
Mr Putin said Russia would continue to “behave in a responsible way” in the market. But his ambitious target will raise concerns in the European Union, the biggest importer of Russian energy, that its supplies might one day be affected by the flow of oil and gas to Asia.
石油行业专家正在争论，俄罗斯能否在西西伯利亚以及（特别是）东西伯利亚找到充足的新储量，以满足其在建的东线输油管线和两条拟通往中国的天然气管道的需要。
Oil industry experts are debating whether Russia will find sufficient new reserves in western and – especially – in eastern Siberia to fill the eastbound oil pipeline it is already building and the two proposed gas links to China.
据信，这是普京首次公开支持30%的目标。在上周六向外国学术界人士和记者发表讲话时，普京表示，东线能源管道的前景“非常良好”，同时，由于俄罗斯濒临太平洋，在发展与亚洲的关系方面，有着“某种天然的优势”。
It is believed to be the first time Mr Putin has publicly put his name to the 30 per cent goal. Speaking on Saturday to foreign academics and journalists, Mr Putin said prospects for the eastbound energy links were “very good” and that Russia, with its border on the Pacific Ocean, had “a certain natural advantage” in developing ties in Asia.
普京没有具体谈到欧盟可能产生的忧虑，但他表示，俄罗斯将考虑其它国家的利益。
Mr Putin did not specifically address the possible concerns of European customers but said Russia would consider other states’ interests.
“我从未说过俄罗斯是一个能源超级大国，但与几乎所有其它国家相比，我们拥有更多储量。我们一向、也将继续以一种负责任的方式行事。我们有意参与制定能源行业的共同规则，并遵守共同制定的规则。但这些应该是涵盖能源生产、能源运输和能源消费的公平规则。”
“I have never stated Russia is an energy superpower but we have more reserves than almost anybody else. We have always behaved, and we will continue to behave, in a responsible way. We intend to participate in the elaboration of common rules in the energy sector and to abide by rules that are developed together. But these should be fair rules that include the production of energy, the transport of energy and the consumption of energy.”
Coma patients are able to think, say researchers 英国研究人员：植物人有思维 2006年9月8日 星期五
神经科学家进行了一次在医学和伦理学方面意义深远的试验，并首次让一位明显丧失意识、处于持续植物状态(persistent vegetative state)的病人通过其思维进行了交流。
In an experiment with profound medical and ethical implications, neuroscientists have for the first time enabled an apparently unconscious patient in a persistent vegetative state to communicate through her thoughts.
一位去年在道路交通事故中头部受伤的妇女看似无法进行交流，对任何刺激都没有反应，但她应剑桥大学研究团队的要求，在自己脑海中打了网球并神游了自己的家。
A woman who suffered a head injury in a road accident last year – and seemed unable to communicate or respond to any stimulus – played tennis in her head and made a mental tour of her home when requested to do so by the research team at Cambridge University.
“这些结果令人吃惊，”剑桥医学研究委员会脑科学组(Medical Research Council Brain Sciences Unit)的阿德里安?欧文(Adrian Owen)表示。该科学组领导了这一项目。这位23岁女性病人的大脑活动，已通过功能核磁共振成像(fMRI)技术制图。
“These are startling results,” said Adrian Owen of the Medical Research Council Brain Sciences Unit, who led the project. The 23-year-old patient’s mental activity was mapped through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
“尽管这名病人被诊断为植物状态，但她保留了理解口头指令并通过大脑活动、而非语音或动作做出反应的能力，”欧文表示。“她决定与我们合作，根据我们的指令想象特定的任务，这是一个清楚的意向行为，确凿无疑地证明，她有意识地认知自己和周围环境。”
“Despite the diagnosis of vegetative state, this patient retained the ability to understand spoken commands and to respond to them through her brain activity, rather than through speech or movement,” said Mr Owen. “Her decision to work with us by imagining particular tasks when asked represents a clear act of intent which confirmed beyond any doubt that she was consciously aware of herself and her surroundings.”
他表示，如果该技术得到进一步发展，医生也许就能找出有一定认知能力的病人，“但在解释负面结果时，我们须极其小心。没有反应并不一定意味着没有认知能力，例如，病人的听觉系统可能有问题。”
Further development of the technique might allow doctors to identify patients who have some level of awareness, he said, “but we would have to be extremely careful about how we interpreted negative results. Lack of response would not necessarily mean lack of awareness; for example a patient’s auditory system might not be working.”
这些结果将引起关于两个问题的伦理辩论，即如何对待处于植物状态已有一段时间的病人，以及在何种情况下可以切断他们的生命支持系统。
The results will stir up the ethical debate about how to treat patients who have been in a vegetative state for a while – and in what circumstances to turn off their life support.
“鉴于这些病人可能有意识，并能够自己做决定，他人未经他们同意，就结束他们的生命，这样做能让人接受吗？”伦敦大学皇家霍洛威学院(Royal Holloway University of London)认知神经科学专业高级讲师纳伦德?拉姆纳尼(Narender Ramnani)问道。
“Given that such patients might be conscious and capable of making their own decisions, is it acceptable for others to terminate their lives without their consent?” asked Narender Ramnani, Reader in Cognitive Neuroscience at Royal Holloway University of London.
Coma patients are able to think, say researchers 英国研究人员：植物人有思维 2006年9月8日 星期五
神经科学家进行了一次在医学和伦理学方面意义深远的试验，并首次让一位明显丧失意识、处于持续植物状态(persistent vegetative state)的病人通过其思维进行了交流。
In an experiment with profound medical and ethical implications, neuroscientists have for the first time enabled an apparently unconscious patient in a persistent vegetative state to communicate through her thoughts.
一位去年在道路交通事故中头部受伤的妇女看似无法进行交流，对任何刺激都没有反应，但她应剑桥大学研究团队的要求，在自己脑海中打了网球并神游了自己的家。
A woman who suffered a head injury in a road accident last year – and seemed unable to communicate or respond to any stimulus – played tennis in her head and made a mental tour of her home when requested to do so by the research team at Cambridge University.
“这些结果令人吃惊，”剑桥医学研究委员会脑科学组(Medical Research Council Brain Sciences Unit)的阿德里安?欧文(Adrian Owen)表示。该科学组领导了这一项目。这位23岁女性病人的大脑活动，已通过功能核磁共振成像(fMRI)技术制图。
“These are startling results,” said Adrian Owen of the Medical Research Council Brain Sciences Unit, who led the project. The 23-year-old patient’s mental activity was mapped through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
“尽管这名病人被诊断为植物状态，但她保留了理解口头指令并通过大脑活动、而非语音或动作做出反应的能力，”欧文表示。“她决定与我们合作，根据我们的指令想象特定的任务，这是一个清楚的意向行为，确凿无疑地证明，她有意识地认知自己和周围环境。”
“Despite the diagnosis of vegetative state, this patient retained the ability to understand spoken commands and to respond to them through her brain activity, rather than through speech or movement,” said Mr Owen. “Her decision to work with us by imagining particular tasks when asked represents a clear act of intent which confirmed beyond any doubt that she was consciously aware of herself and her surroundings.”
他表示，如果该技术得到进一步发展，医生也许就能找出有一定认知能力的病人，“但在解释负面结果时，我们须极其小心。没有反应并不一定意味着没有认知能力，例如，病人的听觉系统可能有问题。”
Further development of the technique might allow doctors to identify patients who have some level of awareness, he said, “but we would have to be extremely careful about how we interpreted negative results. Lack of response would not necessarily mean lack of awareness; for example a patient’s auditory system might not be working.”
这些结果将引起关于两个问题的伦理辩论，即如何对待处于植物状态已有一段时间的病人，以及在何种情况下可以切断他们的生命支持系统。
The results will stir up the ethical debate about how to treat patients who have been in a vegetative state for a while – and in what circumstances to turn off their life support.
“鉴于这些病人可能有意识，并能够自己做决定，他人未经他们同意，就结束他们的生命，这样做能让人接受吗？”伦敦大学皇家霍洛威学院(Royal Holloway University of London)认知神经科学专业高级讲师纳伦德?拉姆纳尼(Narender Ramnani)问道。
“Given that such patients might be conscious and capable of making their own decisions, is it acceptable for others to terminate their lives without their consent?” asked Narender Ramnani, Reader in Cognitive Neuroscience at Royal Holloway University of London.
ADB upgrades forecasts for Asia growth 亚行调高中国今年预期增长率至10.4% 2006年9月7日 星期四
亚洲开发银行(ADB)昨日调高其对亚太地区发展中国家今年经济增长的预期，原因是该地区（特别是中国和南亚国家）急速增长的投资和出口，抵消了不断飙升的油价和大宗商品价格的影响。
The Asian Development Bank yesterday raised its economic growth forecast for developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region this year as booming investments and exports, especially in China and south Asia, offset soaring oil and commodity prices.
亚行表示，不包括日本在内的亚太地区今年平均国内生产总值(GDP)增幅有望达到7.7%，高于该行今年4月份做出的7.2%的预期。去年该地区的GDP增幅为7.6%。
It said the region excluding Japan was likely to register an average GDP growth of 7.7 per cent this year, up from its forecast in April of 7.2 per cent. Last year’s GDP growth was 7.6 per cent.
亚行首席经济学家艾弗兹?阿里(Ifzal Ali)表示：“由于投资和出口高速增长，中国经济增长提速，这对于此次上调地区经济增长预期有很大的影响。”
“Acceleration in growth in the People’s Republic of China, due to booming investments and exports, has significantly influenced this regional upward revision,” Ifzal Ali, ADB’s chief economist, said.
他补充道：“由于出口增长水平的提高，对南亚三大经济体（孟加拉国、印度和巴基斯坦）的增长预期进行修正，也影响到2006年地区增长预期的上调。”
He added: “Revisions to the growth forecasts of the three larger south Asian economies – Bangladesh, India and Pakistan – on the back of higher levels of export growth have also fed into the higher 2006 projection.”
亚行在其《亚洲发展展望》更新版(Asian Development Outlook Update)中称，由于工业国家的需求不断放缓，加之油价高企，明年该地区43个发展中国家的平均经济增长率可能降至7.1%，略高于该行4月份时7%的预期。
Next year, average growth in the 43 developing countries making up the region would ease to 7.1 per cent, the ADB said in its Asian Development Outlook Update, marginally higher than its April forecast of 7 per cent, owing to slowing demand from indust- rial countries and high oil prices.
亚行表示，中国今年的经济增长率可能达到10.4%，高于亚行早些时候9.5%的预期；而印度经济增长率可能达到7.8%，高于亚行4月份时7.6%的预期。
China was likely to grow by 10.4 per cent this year compared with the earlier forecast of 9.5 per cent while India would expand by 7.8 per cent, up from the April forecast of 7.6 per cent.
总部位于马尼拉的亚行表示，中国目前的当务之急是创造就业机会和缩小收入差距。
The Manila-based bank said high priorities for China were creating jobs and narrowing the income gap.
亚行将东南亚国家今年的增长预期从5.5%下调至5.4%，原因是对马来西亚和泰国经济增长预期的向下修正，抵消了上调菲律宾和新加坡增长预期的影响。
The ADB pared the growth outlook for south-east Asia from 5.5 per cent to 5.4 per cent this year as downward revisions for Malaysia and Thailand offset upgrades for the Philippines and Singapore.
Microsoft passes Vista milestone 微软发布下一代Windows最新测试版 2006年9月6日 星期三
根据对Windows Vista最新测试版的初步评估，微软(Microsoft)已向着全面完成该计算机操作系统迈进了一大步，不过该公司自己设定的最终发布日期仍存在变数。
Microsoft has taken a big step towards completing Windows Vista, though its own self-imposed deadline for releasing the computer operating system still hangs in the balance, according to early reviews of the latest test version of the software.
微软上周末完成了一个新的Vista测试版，并表示，该测试版将于本周向多达6百万用户开放。
The software company made a new test version of Vista available at the end of last week, and said that it would be opened up to as many as 6m users this week.
这款被称为“候选发布版1”(Release Candidate 1)的最新版本是一个重要的里程碑，微软正忙着赶在11月底前将最终版本交到大型企业客户手中。该软件的完整零售版定于明年1月份发布。
Dubbed “Release Candidate 1”, the latest software is an important milestone as Microsoft rushes to get the final version into the hands of its big corporate customers by the end of November. A full retail version of the software is due out in January.
然而，尽管它的名称表明微软目前处于完成Vista测试的最后阶段，一些分析师仍质疑该产品能否在其宣传的日期前完成。
However, while the name suggests that Microsoft is now in the final stages of completing the testing of Vista, some analysts continued to question whether the product would be ready as advertised.
First for China as investment bank is given a Dubai licence 中国一投资银行首获迪拜经营许可证 2006年8月29日 星期二
迪拜金融当局首次向一家中国金融机构颁发会员牌照，此举突显出海湾地区和中国之间的双边贸易正在不断增长。
Dubai’s financial authority has granted a membership licence to a Chinese institution for the first time in a move highlighting the growing two-way trade between the Gulf region and China.
经过数月谈判，迪拜金融服务局(Dubai Financial Services Authority)决定向香港第一东方集团(First Eastern Group)旗下的投资银行颁发经营许可证，允许其入驻迪拜国际金融中心(Dubai International Financial Centre)开展业务。
The investment banking arm of Hong Kong-based First Eastern Group has been granted permission to operate from the Dubai International Financial Centre after months of talks with the Dubai Financial Services Authority.
迄今为止，只有高盛(Goldman Sachs)和汇丰(HSBC)等全球银行得到了迪拜的经营许可证。
To date, only global banks such as Goldman Sachs and HSBC have been awarded Dubai licences.
作为中国大陆私人股本投资领域的先行者之一，第一东方已在海湾地区运营了15年。该集团寻求有关当局批准其以迪拜为基地开展业务，其目的就是利用中东和中国之间双边贸易不断扩大的局面。
First Eastern, among the pioneers of private equity investments in mainland China, has operated in the Gulf region for 15 years. It sought approval to operate out of Dubai to take advantage of expanding two-way trade between the Middle East and China.
海湾地区是中国第八大贸易伙伴，预计双边贸易额在未来5年内将增长2倍，达到1000亿美元。麦肯锡(McKinsey)的分析师曾指出，“新丝绸之路”正在兴起，其推动力来自中国对资本的渴求，及海湾国家将石油美元用于投资的愿望。
The Gulf region is China’s eighth-largest trading partner and two-way trade is forecast to treble to $100bn over the next five years. Analysts at McKinsey have cited the emergence of a “New Silk Road”, driven by China’s thirst for capital and the Gulf states’ desire to invest their petrodollars.
麦肯锡估计，在未来5年中，海湾地区可供投资亚洲的资金将高达2500亿美元，其中大部分可能进入中国。
McKinsey estimates that up to $250bn from the Gulf will be available for investment in Asia over the next five years and that much of that could go to China.
同期，预计中东国家将在大型基础设施项目、农业、教育、卫生和信息科技领域投资5000亿美元。
Over the same period, countries in the Middle East are expected to spend $500bn on major infrastructure projects and initiatives in agriculture, education, healthcare and information technology.
分析师们相信，中国公司将处于有利地位，有望赢得其中一些合同。
Analysts believe Chinese companies will be well positioned to win some of the contracts.
第一东方表示，它将利用新的经营许可证，专注于为基础设施和服务领域的中国企业安排引资和投资，并为中国公司提供项目融资，帮助它们完成在海湾地区的交易。
First Eastern said it would use its new licence to focus on bringing investments to and from Chinese corporations in the infrastructure and service sectors, and offer Chinese companies project finance to undertake deals in the Gulf.
第一东方董事局主席诸立力(Victor Chu)表示，该银行还将推荐中国公司到迪拜股市上市。
Victor Chu, First Eastern chairman, said the bank would also seek to list Chinese companies on the Dubai stock market.
他向英国《金融时报》表示：“经过一段时间，会有逾1万家中国公司达到在迪拜上市的条件。中国国内市场容量的制约导致许多中国公司无法上市融资。”
He told the Financial Times: “There are over 10,000 Chinese companies that would, over time, qualify to list in Dubai. Capacity constraints in domestic Chinese markets are preventing many firms from accessing capital.”
China outlines bigger role in negotiating commodity prices 中国将要求在全球大宗商品定价上发挥更大作用 2006年8月29日 星期二
中国已经表示，要在全球大宗商品定价方面发挥更大作用，并宣称将成立新的行业谈判团队，利用中国强大的购买力，争取更低的价格。
China has signalled it will demand a larger role in setting global commodities prices, with an announcement that it will form new industry negotiating groups to leverage its buying power to secure lower prices.
商务部负责贸易工作的副部长魏建国表示，中国将参照今年的铁矿石统一谈判模式，“尽快”启动原油、氧化铝、铜精矿等商品的联合对外谈判机制。
Wei Jianguo, a vice-minister for commerce, the ministry responsible for trade, said China would establish negotiating groups “as soon as possible” covering oil, alumina and copper, in the same way it did for iron ore this year.
魏建国的言论反映了中国的一种信念，即作为许多大宗商品的全球最大市场，中国应该在定价方面拥有更大影响力。中国的这一计划可能会遭遇法律障碍，因为，如果这类谈判团队是政府性质的，就会受到全球贸易规定的限制。中国重工业领域多为国有企业，即使有些不由政府控制，也仍然受到严格监管。
Mr Wei's comments reflect a belief in China that its emergence as the world’s largest market for many commodities should give it greater influence over their prices. China’s plan faces potential legal barriers, as global trading rules limit such bodies if they are government-run. Most of China’s heavy industrial sectors are state-owned or remain closely supervised if not controlled by the government.
中国工业经济的迅速增长，已将很多原材料价格推至历史高点，特别是铁矿石、铜和铝等大宗商品。
The rapid growth of China's industrial economy has pushed raw material prices up to generational highs, especially for commodities such as iron ore, copper and alumina.
自2005年起，在中国官员圈子中就一直积郁着一种不满情绪；当时，全球大型铁矿石生产商在与日本和欧洲的谈判中，成功推动铁矿石涨价71%。尽管中国是最大的铁矿石进口国，但没有参与谈判，只能被迫接受定价。
Resentment has been smouldering in China’s official circles since 2005, when the world’s big iron ore producers won a 71 per cent annual increase in the price of iron ore in negotiations with Japan and Europe. Although China is by far the largest importer of iron ore, it played no role in the talks and was forced to accept the price.
今年，中国组织了一个行业团队参加铁矿石价格年度谈判。尽管这个团队没能设定基准价格，但总算较好地保持了团结，这对各自为战的中国钢铁业来说还是首次。
China organised an industry group for this year's annual iron ore negotiations, which, although it failed to set a benchmark price, stuck together relatively well, a first for the fragmented local industry.
麦格理证券(Macquarie Equities)驻伦敦的大宗商品分析师吉姆?列农(Jim Lennon)表示，中国只是努力在做日本在许多资源领域已经做了很多年的事。
Jim Lennon, a commodities analyst with Macquarie Equities in London, said China was simply trying to do what Japan has done in a number of resource sectors for many years.
中国普遍存在的短期买卖心态，加上处理长期合同经验不足，导致许多中国企业依靠现货市场获取资源商品。在过去4年中，这种战略的代价极为昂贵，在此期间，供应紧张使现货价格超出了日益上涨的合同价格。
China's prevalent short-term trading mentality, combined with its inexperience in managing long-term contracts, has resulted in many of its companies relying on the spot market for resources. This has been a disastrously expensive strategy over the past four years, during which tight supplies have seen spot prices exceed rising contract prices.
China Telecom in talks with foreign companies 中国电信正与潜在外国战略投资者洽谈 2006年8月29日 星期二
中国最大的固话运营商中国电信(China Telecom)昨日表示，它正与5家有意收购其战略股份的海外电信集团进行洽谈。
China Telecom said yesterday it was in talks with five overseas telecoms groups interested in taking strategic stakes in the country’s largest fixed-line operator.
中国电信是中国四大电信运营商中惟一一家尚未与外资公司结盟的公司。该公司董事长兼首席执行官王晓初表示，在得到第三代移动通信(3G)牌照之前，公司不会选定合作伙伴。
China Telecom is the only big-four telecoms operator on the mainland that has not teamed up with a foreign company. Wang Xiaochu, chairman and chief executive, said the company would not pick a partner until it was granted a 3G mobile licence.
王晓初表示：“我们并不急于找合作伙伴。由于3G的不确定性，我们的价值还没有充分体现。”他拒绝透露中国电信正在与哪些公司进行谈判。
“There is no rush for us to find a partner. Our value has not been fully represented because of the uncertainty over 3G,” said Mr Wang, who declined to reveal with which companies China Telecom was in talks.
外资企业在其饱和的本土市场之外寻求增长时，都渴望进入中国这一全球最大的移动电话市场。
Foreign companies are eager to tap China – the world’s largest mobile market – as they seek growth outside their saturated home markets.
尽管它们只获准在中国的电信企业持有少数股份，但拥有一家当地合作伙伴，可让外资运营商更好地参与中国的其它电信项目。
Although they are only allowed to take minority stakes in Chinese telecoms companies, having a local partner could give a foreign operator better access to other telecoms projects in China.
韩国最大的移动通讯企业SK电讯(SK Telecom)本周宣布和中国政府结成联盟，帮助中国发展其自主研发的3G标准，即TD-SCDMA标准。这是中国政府首次与一家海外运营商结盟。
SK Telecom, South Korea's top mobile company, this week announced the first alliance between an overseas operator and the Chinese government to help China develop its home-grown 3G standard, known as TD-SCDMA.
而就在两个月之前，SK电讯刚刚买入中国第二大移动电话运营商中国联通(China Unicom)10亿美元的债券，这些债券可转换成中国联通6.7%的股权。
The news came two months after SK bought bonds convertible into a 6.7 per cent stake in China Unicom, the country’s second-largest wireless operator.
沃达丰(Vodafone)持有中国最大的移动电话运营商中国移动(China Mobile)的少量股份。中国网通(China Netcom)的外国合作伙伴是香港的电讯盈科(PCCW)和西班牙电话公司(Telefónica)。
Vodafone has a small stake in China Mobile, the top wireless operator. China Netcom’s foreign partners are Hong Kong’s PCCW and Spain’s Telefónica.
预计中国政府将于今年或明年初发放3G牌照。得到移动通信牌照，将帮助中国电信重拾增长势头。该公司此前宣布，今年上半年的增长速度是2002年以来的最低水平，原因在于，在固话与手机之间，越来越多的中国人选择手机。
Beijing is expected to issue 3G licences this year or early next year. Having a mobile licence would help China Telecom to regain growth momentum, especially after it announced its slowest half-year growth since 2002 as more people in China chose wireless phones over fixed lines.
NYSE under pressure to raise Euronext offer 纽交所面临竞购泛欧交易所提价压力 2006年8月29日 星期二
纽约证券交易所(NYSE)正面临压力，需要提高对泛欧交易所(Euronext)的出价。纽约证交所的出价为75亿欧元（合96亿美元），低于竞购对手德意志证交所(Deutsche B?rse)的出价。
The New York Stock Exchange is under pressure to raise its �7.5bn ($9.6bn) offer for Euronext, which has fallen below a rival offer from Deutsche B?rse.
纽约证交所的出价由股票和现金两部分构成，合每股66欧元，而德意志证交所的出价，是以泛欧交易所和自己的移动平均股价为基础，合每股71欧元至72欧元。
The share and cash offer from NYSE is valued at �66 a share while that of Deutsche B?rse, which is based on a moving average of its and Euronext’s share prices, is valued at �71 to �72.
“纽约证交所有两个选择，” Man Securities交易所分析师马蒙·塔齐(Mamoun Tazi)表示。“它要么提高出价，要么退出竞购。泛欧交易所如何能够说服股东，接受一个低于德意志交易所的出价呢？”
“The NYSE has two options,” said Mamoun Tazi, exchanges analyst at Man Securities. “They can either up their bid or they can move out. How can Euronext convince their shareholders to go for a bid which is not as good as Deutsche B?rse's?”
Japan's investors see India as next big growth market 日本投资者将印度视为下一个大型成长市场 2006年8月29日 星期二
日本三菱UFJ证券(Mitsubishi UFJ Securities)计划与印度工业信贷投资银行(ICICI Bank)成立一家投资银行合资公司，此举表明两国跨境交易正在呈现上升态势。
Mitsubishi UFJ Securities of Japan plans to establish an investment banking joint venture with India’s ICICI Bank, signalling a rising tide of cross-border deals between the countries.
这一消息于昨日公布之际，另外两家日本顶级的金融集团——日本第一生命保险(Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance)和日本软银投资(Softbank Investments)——也公布了向印度市场扩张的计划。人们越来越相信，印度将成为继中国之后的下一个成长型市场。
The news came yesterday as two other top Japanese financial groups – Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance and Softbank Investments – revealed steps to expand into the Indian market, amid growing confidence that India will become the next growth market after China.
三菱UFJ证券和印度工业信贷投资银行在双方的谅解备忘录中表示，它们将在并购、企业融资和资产管理等领域开展合作。
Under their memorandum of understanding, Mitsubishi UFJ Securities and ICICI said they would co-operate in areas such as mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and asset management.
Mould fears push coffee price to fresh high 意大利2.6万吨咖啡霉变 推高全球咖啡价格 2006年8月28日 星期一
意大利人贡献了很多有关咖啡饮品的词条，包括卡布奇诺咖啡(cappuccino)、意大利浓咖啡(expresso)、拿铁咖啡(caffè latte)和玛其雅朵咖啡(macchiato)等。上周，意大利人还为咖啡市场带来更多东西——2万多吨霉变的咖啡库存。
The Italians have given much of the lexicon of coffee drinks, including cappuccino, expresso, caffè latte and caffè macchiato. Last week, the Italians gave the coffee market something more – tonnes of mouldy coffee stocks.
在意大利港口城市的里雅斯特的仓库里，高达2.6万吨、价值逾4000万美元的咖啡因发霉而变质。泛欧交易所-伦敦国际金融期货期权交易所(Euronext-Liffe)称，咖啡库存霉变的原因是放置咖啡的货架受了潮。Euronext-Liffe是泛欧交易所的期货交易部门。
Up to 26,000 tonnes of coffee, worth more than $40m, have been affected by mould at warehouses in the Italian port city of Trieste. The cause of the damage was from the moisture in the pallets that hold the coffee, according to Euronext.Liffe, the futures exchange and unit of Euronext.
由于可能受损的咖啡数量约占Euronext-Liffe罗布斯塔咖啡(robusta)期货合约到期可交割库存总量的四分之一，因此，该事件已导致咖啡价格上周涨至每吨1750美元，接近7年高点。罗布斯塔咖啡价格是全球咖啡基准价格之一。
The effect has seen coffee prices rise to a near seven-year high of $1,750 a tonne last week, as the amount of potentially damaged coffee accounts for about a quarter of all stocks deliverable against the Euronext.Liffe robusta coffee futures contract, one of the world’s benchmark coffee prices.
Hutchison Whampoa reduces 3G losses 和记黄埔3G业务减少亏损 2006年8月7日 星期一
和记黄埔(Hutchison Whampoa)昨日发布业绩称，其全球3G电信部门上半年亏损减少，但该公司同时表示，由于此项业务在英国遭遇困境，因此可能无法实现内部的年终盈利目标。
The Hong Kong-based conglomerate had predicted that its 3G operations would reach profit-ability on an earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation basis, exclusive of customer acquisition costs, by the end of this year.
这家总部位于香港的企业集团曾预计，在今年底前，不计用户收购成本，以利息、税收、折旧和摊销前的收益(EBITDA)计算，其3G业务将实现盈利。
和黄董事局主席李嘉诚(Li Ka-shing)在公司业绩发布会上讲话时表示，在2007年上半年前，公司可能无法实现这一里程碑式的目标。今年头6个月，和黄3G业务的亏损收窄40%，至15.4亿美元。
Speaking at his company’s results briefing, Li Ka-shing, Hutchison chairman, said that milestone would not be attained until the first half of 2007. For the first six months of this year, Hutchison’s 3G losses narrowed by 40 per cent to $1.54bn.
Energy group on track for record profits 中石油今年利润有望再创新高 2006年8月7日 星期一
中石油(PetroChina)今年将有望再度实现创纪录利润。该公司昨日公布，今年上半年净收益增长了29%。
PetroChina is on track to post another record profit this year after yesterday reporting a 29 per cent increase in first-half net earnings.
中石油2005年全年利润为166亿美元，而在今年上半年，其净收益已达到806.8亿元人民币（合101亿美元）。以市值衡量，中石油在全球油气公司中位列第四，仅次于埃克森美孚(ExxonMobil)、荷兰皇家壳牌(Royal Dutch Shell)和英国石油(BP)。
The fourth-largest oil and gas company by market value after ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP reported a full-year profit of US$16.6bn for 2005. Net earnings for the first half of this year rose to Rmb80.68bn (US$10.1bn).
尽管中石油继续受益于创纪录的高油价，但中国政府于今年3月份开始对石油企业开征特别收益金（俗称“石油暴利税”），影响到这家中国领先的石油生产商的业绩。此外，由于政府一直限制汽油零售价，炼油厂不能弥补原油价格上涨所带来的影响，因此，该公司的炼油业务继续处于亏损状态。
While it continues to benefit from record high oil prices, China’s leading oil producer has been hit this year by a new windfall profits tax, which the Chinese government imposed in March. Its refining operations also continued to lose money as retail gasoline prices remain capped at levels below which refiners cannot recoup the rising cost of crude.
Influx of workers from new EU states 欧盟新成员国劳工大举涌入英国 2006年8月7日 星期一
自2004年以来，已有逾40万东欧人在英国注册就业。这一数字远远超出预期，并激起限制未来移民的呼声。
昨日发布的官方数据显示，截至6月底的3个月内，近5万移民在英国注册就业。这使过去两年的注册总数达到42.7万人，其中近三分之二来自波兰。政府部长表示，如果将自雇者计算在内，总数可能高达60万。
Almost 50,000 were registered to work during the three months to the end of June, according to official figures published yesterday. This takes the total registered to 427,000 in the past two years, almost two-thirds of them from Poland. Ministers said the total could be as high as 600,000 if self-employed workers were included.
继瑞典和爱尔兰之后，英国允许来自8个东欧国家的劳工直接进入本国工作，导致东欧移民大举涌入。这些东欧国家于2004年5月份加入欧盟(EU)。
The migrants flocked to Britain after the UK joined Sweden and Ireland in allowing immediate access to workers from the eight east European countries that joined the European Union in May 2004.
移民如此大规模涌入，同时伴随着失业率的上升，加上在罗马尼亚和保加利亚明年加入欧盟后，英国“门户开放”政策是否应涵盖这两个国家的劳工，使一些商界领袖对这一移民劳工政策提出质疑。英国最大的商业组织英国工业联合会(CBI)上周呼吁，在允许保加利亚和罗马尼亚劳工自由进入之前，应“暂停”实施该项政策。
The scale of the influx, which has coincided with a rise in unemployment, has prompted some business leaders to question whether Britain’s “open door” policy should be extended to workers from Romania and Bulgaria if the two countries join the EU next year. The CBI, the UK’s biggest business organisation, last week called for a “pause” before extending free access to Bulgarian and Romanian workers.
英国工业联合会会长理查德?兰伯特(Richard Lambert)昨日向政府部长呼吁，在将充分工作权赋予下一批欧盟新成员国的劳工之前，应慎重考虑。他表示：“欧盟新成员国移民的努力工作，使英国受益匪浅。但英国花时间反思一下早些时候的经验，并就如何以及何时迎接下一批移民的问题展开讨论，肯定是对的。”
Richard Lambert, CBI director-general, yesterday called on ministers to think carefully before allowing full working rights to people from the next wave of EU member states. He said: “The UK has benefited greatly from the hard work of migrants from new accession countries. But it is only right that the UK takes the time to reflect on the earlier experiences and debates how and when to welcome the next phase.”
英国贸易与工业大臣阿拉斯泰尔?达林(Alastair Darling)上周末暗示，政府正在考虑限制保加利亚和罗马尼亚劳工进入英国。
Alastair Darling, trade and industry secretary, signalled at the weekend that the government was considering restricting access for Bulgarians and Romanians.
然而，移民事务部长托尼?麦克纳尔蒂(Tony McNulty)昨日表示，目前尚未做出任何决定。
But Tony McNulty, immigration minister, said yesterday that no decision had been made
China overtakes US in exports to eurozone 今年前5个月中国对欧元区出口首超美国 2006年8月7日 星期一
昨日公布的官方数据显示，欧元区从中国的进口额已超过其从美国的进口额。该数据还突显出，外贸因素对欧元区经济增长的影响力正在不断下降。
Imports from China into the eurozone have overtaken imports from the US, according to official figures yesterday, which also highlighted the diminishing impact of foreign trade on eurozone growth.
来自欧盟统计局(Eurostat)的上述数据突显出来自中国的进口迅速增长，而这使得欧洲企业面临的竞争挑战更为严峻。欧元区进口额的增长表明，在这个由12个国家组成的单一货币区内，内需正不断走强，表明欧元区的经济复苏已更加全面。
The data from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical unit, highlighted the rapid growth in Chinese imports, which has intensified the competitive challenge facing European companies. The eurozone import growth pointed to a strengthening in domestic demand in the 12-country region, suggesting the economic recovery had become more broad-based.
巴克莱资本(Barclays Capital)的经济学家詹姆士?阿什利(James Ashley)表示：“对于欧洲的出口而言，美国显然仍是一个更为重要的市场，但在欧洲进口方面，中国的实力目前已与美国旗鼓相当。”
“The US remains a significantly more important market for European exports, but when it comes to European imports, China is now just as strong as the US,” said James Ashley, economist at Barclays Capital.
今年前5个月，欧元区从中国的进口额为540亿欧元（合700亿美元），较上年同期增长26%。欧元区从美国的进口额增长8%，至530亿欧元。对整个欧盟而言，从中国的进口额增长25%，至720亿欧元，而从美国的进口额则增长11%，至740亿欧元。阿什利表示：“到今年底，欧元区和欧盟从中国的进口额可能都会超过从美国的进口额。”
In the first five months of this year, eurozone imports from China were at �54bn ($70bn, ￡37bn), 26 per cent higher than the same period a year before. Imports from the US rose by 8 per cent to �53bn. For the EU as a whole, imports from China were up by 25 per cent at �72bn, compared with an 11 per cent rise to �74bn in imports from the US. “By the end of the year it appears likely that imports from China will exceed those from the US for both the eurozone and EU,” said Mr Ashley.
在上述贸易数据公布之前，上周出炉的强劲经济增长数据显示，欧元区今年第二季度的 GDP增长了0.9%，是6年来最强劲的增幅，并且高于美国同期的经济增长率。而昨日公布的数据显示，欧元区出口增长依然强劲，6月份经季节因素调整后的出口增幅为0.3%，5月份为0.5%。
The trade figures followed last week’s strong growth data that showed the gross domestic product in the eurozone increasing by 0.9 per cent in the second quarter of this year – the strongest rate for six years and faster than in the US. Eurozone export growth remains strong, according to yesterday’s data, rising by a seasonally adjusted 0.3 per cent in June, after a 0.5 per cent rise in May.
然而，由于内需强劲，同期的进口增速与出口增速大体持平。经济学家表示，该数据显示，净贸易（出口增幅与进口增幅之差）对欧元区GDP增幅的积极影响已减小。
But imports also grew at similar rates over the same period, reflecting domestic demand. Economists said that the data showed net trade – growth of exports minus imports – was having less of a positive impact on eurozone GDP growth.
China overtakes US in exports to eurozone 今年前5个月中国对欧元区出口首超美国 2006年8月7日 星期一
昨日公布的官方数据显示，欧元区从中国的进口额已超过其从美国的进口额。该数据还突显出，外贸因素对欧元区经济增长的影响力正在不断下降。
Imports from China into the eurozone have overtaken imports from the US, according to official figures yesterday, which also highlighted the diminishing impact of foreign trade on eurozone growth.
来自欧盟统计局(Eurostat)的上述数据突显出来自中国的进口迅速增长，而这使得欧洲企业面临的竞争挑战更为严峻。欧元区进口额的增长表明，在这个由12个国家组成的单一货币区内，内需正不断走强，表明欧元区的经济复苏已更加全面。
The data from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical unit, highlighted the rapid growth in Chinese imports, which has intensified the competitive challenge facing European companies. The eurozone import growth pointed to a strengthening in domestic demand in the 12-country region, suggesting the economic recovery had become more broad-based.
巴克莱资本(Barclays Capital)的经济学家詹姆士?阿什利(James Ashley)表示：“对于欧洲的出口而言，美国显然仍是一个更为重要的市场，但在欧洲进口方面，中国的实力目前已与美国旗鼓相当。”
“The US remains a significantly more important market for European exports, but when it comes to European imports, China is now just as strong as the US,” said James Ashley, economist at Barclays Capital.
今年前5个月，欧元区从中国的进口额为540亿欧元（合700亿美元），较上年同期增长26%。欧元区从美国的进口额增长8%，至530亿欧元。对整个欧盟而言，从中国的进口额增长25%，至720亿欧元，而从美国的进口额则增长11%，至740亿欧元。阿什利表示：“到今年底，欧元区和欧盟从中国的进口额可能都会超过从美国的进口额。”
In the first five months of this year, eurozone imports from China were at �54bn ($70bn, ￡37bn), 26 per cent higher than the same period a year before. Imports from the US rose by 8 per cent to �53bn. For the EU as a whole, imports from China were up by 25 per cent at �72bn, compared with an 11 per cent rise to �74bn in imports from the US. “By the end of the year it appears likely that imports from China will exceed those from the US for both the eurozone and EU,” said Mr Ashley.
在上述贸易数据公布之前，上周出炉的强劲经济增长数据显示，欧元区今年第二季度的 GDP增长了0.9%，是6年来最强劲的增幅，并且高于美国同期的经济增长率。而昨日公布的数据显示，欧元区出口增长依然强劲，6月份经季节因素调整后的出口增幅为0.3%，5月份为0.5%。
The trade figures followed last week’s strong growth data that showed the gross domestic product in the eurozone increasing by 0.9 per cent in the second quarter of this year – the strongest rate for six years and faster than in the US. Eurozone export growth remains strong, according to yesterday’s data, rising by a seasonally adjusted 0.3 per cent in June, after a 0.5 per cent rise in May.
然而，由于内需强劲，同期的进口增速与出口增速大体持平。经济学家表示，该数据显示，净贸易（出口增幅与进口增幅之差）对欧元区GDP增幅的积极影响已减小。
But imports also grew at similar rates over the same period, reflecting domestic demand. Economists said that the data showed net trade – growth of exports minus imports – was having less of a positive impact on eurozone GDP growth.
Why do so many prices end in .99? “99便士”定价法的大用处 2006年8月7日 星期一
我注意到你的书《卧底经济学家》(The Undercover Economist)标价为17.99英镑。你在书中强调，理性和计算是经济行为的基础。如果真是这样，为何那么多价格要以99便士来结尾？难道消费者真的会把17.99英镑当成17英镑吗？
I notice that your book, The Undercover Economist, has a list price of ￡17.99. In it you emphasise that rationality and calculation underlie economic behaviour. If so, why do so many prices end in .99? Do consumers really think that ￡17.99 is only ￡17?
达尼埃拉?阿克(Daniella Acker)，通过电子邮件致信
Daniella Acker, via e-mail
亲爱的达尼埃拉：
Dear Daniella,
罗彻斯特大学(University of Rochester)的经济学家斯蒂文?兰德博格(Steven Landsburg)给出了一个更加可信的解释：制定这样的价格不是为了利用人们的弱智，而是为了防止出现不诚实行为。
A more likely explanation - from Steven Landsburg, an economist at the University of Rochester - is that these prices are designed not to exploit incompetence but to fight dishonesty.
一般书店都会遇到很多顺手牵羊的行窃案，像我的书这样诱人的产品，更是容易成为行窃的对象。但是，从顾客行窃行为中获益最多的莫过于店员。
A typical bookshop will experience a certain amount of shoplifting, especially of products as tempting as my book. Nobody is better placed to benefit from shoplifting than the shop assistants.
如果一本书（或其它任何产品）的标价正好是10英镑、15英镑或20英镑，那么顾客常常会交付刚刚好的金额。在这种情况下，店员不用打开钱柜，就可以轻易地替顾客把货物包好，然后把现金揣进自己腰包。
If books - or any products - were roundly priced at ￡10, ￡15 or ￡20, then customers would frequently offer the correct change. In such cases it would be simple for the shop assistant to bag the item without ringing it through the till, and to pocket the cash.
这样一来，书似乎是被顾客偷走了，而这种中饱私囊的做法，比试图销赃一本《追忆似水年华》(la recherche du temps perdu)或《卧底经济学家》要有吸引力得多，风险也可能更低。所有理性的商店窃贼都应该在商店里找份工作。
The book would appear to have been stolen by the customer, but this is a far more attractive proposition than trying to fence a stolen copy of A la recherche du temps perdu, or even The Undercover Economist, and the risk is probably lower. All rational shoplifters should get jobs in shops.
然而，价格定得越是不便，那些依靠操纵钱柜行窃的人就越不可能得逞。顾客将索要找零，而且可能会质疑一个从自己的衣袋里掏钱，为顾客找零的店员。
However, the more awkward the pricing, the more unlikely those thieving till-jockeys are to be able to pull off the trick. The customer will want change and is likely to challenge a shop assistant who reaches into his pocket to make it.
如果这个理论是正确的，那么，在那些业主亲自当掌柜的店铺里，我们就不应该看到以99便士结尾的价格，而在不可能发生顺手牵羊行窃的网上店铺里也一样。
If this theory is true, then we should not expect to see those 99p endings in shops manned by their owners, nor at internet shops where shoplifting is impossible.
我要特别指出，在亚马逊(Amazon)网上书店里，我这本书的价格尾数就不是.99，而是.78。
I note that the price of my book on Amazon ends not in .99 but .78。
Boeing to pull the plug on onboard internet service 波音将取消飞机客舱宽带上网服务 2006年8月7日 星期一
波音公司(Boeing)将在今年底前停止为乘客提供机舱互联网服务，此举可能激怒航空公司，并打击机舱移动电话服务很快将在经济上可行的希望。
Boeing will close its onboard internet service for passengers by the end of the year in a move likely to anger carriers and dampen hopes that in-flight mobile phone services will soon be economically viable.
波音公司在2004年大张旗鼓地推出Connexion机上服务，但这项面向高端乘客的宽带上网服务，未能吸引到足够的兴趣。
The aerospace group's Connexion service was introduced on aircraft with much fanfare in 2004, but the offer of broadband services to premium passengers failed to attract enough interest.
最大客户德国汉莎航空(Lufthansa)昨日坚称，该服务是一种关键的营销工具，并表示希望找到另一家合作伙伴。但分析人士表示，波音经过为期两个月的业务评估后，未能为该部门找到合作伙伴或买家，这表明该产品以目前形态而言不具有可行性。
Lufthansa, the largest customer, yesterday maintained that the service was a key marketing tool and said it hoped to find an alternative partner. However, analysts said Boeing’s failure to find a partner or buyer for the unit after a two-month review suggested that the product remained unviable in its current form.
分析人士估计，为了开发Connexion服务，波音已经投资约10亿美元。该公司表示，将在2006年下半年列支3.2亿美元，用以补偿客户及减记该项资产价格。该公司最初在6月份宣布对该项业务进行评估。
Analysts estimate that Boeing invested around $1bn to develop Connexion, and the company said it will take a $320m charge in the second half of 2006 to compensate customers and write down assets. It first announced a review of the business in June.
Tighter EU air restrictions backed 英国新航空安检标准可能推广至欧盟各国 2006年8月7日 星期一
随着法德两国的内政部长昨日均对英国提高安检标准的呼吁表示支持，更为严格的机场安检措施及对随身行李的新限制规定，可能会在欧盟(EU)全境逐步推广。
Tougher airport security and new restrictions on hand luggage could be phased in across the European Union, after interior ministers from France and Germany yesterday supported UK calls for tighter standards.
英国内政大臣约翰?里德(John Reid)极力主张所有欧洲国家都采用与英国相似的手段。在上周发出恐怖袭击警报之后，英国当局决定禁止旅客将液体及凝胶体物品带上飞机。
John Reid, Britain’s home secretary, urged all European countries to adopt a similar approach to that of the UK, which has banned liquids and gels from being carried on board aircraft since last week’s terror alert.
里德在伦敦与6个欧盟成员国的部长们举行了一次会议。他在会后对记者表示，欧洲面临恐怖主义“持久且非常真实的威胁”。
After a meeting in London with ministers from six other EU member states, he told reporters that Europe faced “a persistent and very real threat” from terrorism.
在他发表上述评论之际，对炸毁从伦敦希思罗机场(Heathrow)飞往美国航班阴谋的调查，已经扩展至英国和巴基斯坦以外。
His comments came as it emerged that the investigation into an alleged plot to blow up airliners flying from London’s Heathrow airport to the US had been expanded beyond the UK and Pakistan.
在伊斯兰堡，高级政府官员们表示，欧洲其它国家及北美国家可能牵涉其中。一位阿拉伯外交官表示，调查范围已经扩至德国和比利时。
In Islamabad, senior government officials said that countries elsewhere in Europe and in north Africa might be involved. One Arab diplomat said the investigation had widened to include Germany and Belgium.
欧盟司法委员弗兰柯?法兰帝尼(Franco Frattini)透露，各国内政部长们讨论了很多反恐措施。
Franco Frattini, the EU's justice commissioner, outlined a number of anti-terror steps discussed by interior ministers.
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