(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report.
Today we tell you more about the effects of falling oil prices. Lower demand for oil and too much supply have sent prices to their lowest levels in five years.
Last week, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries decided to keep production at current levels. Representatives of the 12-nation group met in Vienna, Austria. They were unable to reach agreement on changing OPEC's production targets.
Lower oil prices are causing economic hardship in some OPEC members. Officials there are exploring ways to cut government spending.
The president of Venezuela announced last week that he and other government officials should take pay cuts as part of budget reductions. The Reuters news service says the reductions are meant to answer the lower oil prices. It says Venezuela gets 96 percent of its export earnings from oil sales. The nation has among the highest inflation rates in Latin America.
Russia is a major oil exporter, but does not belong to OPEC. This week, Russia's economic development ministry predicted that the Russian economy will shrink by eight-tenths of a percent in 2015. Oil exports are important to Russia. The value of Russian money has lost about 40 percent of its value this year compared to the American dollar. Observers have blamed the drop on falling profits from oil exports, and Western sanctions to punish Russian actions in Ukraine.
But economists say the fall in oil prices is helping economies in Asia. Andrew Colquhoun is with Hong Kong-based Fitch Ratings.
"Most Asia-Pacific economies are oil importers and therefore the decline in oil prices is equivalent to a kind of income gain for them and the impact depends on whether they save or spend the income gain."
In a recent report, Fitch Ratings said China and most major Asian economies would effectively earn more money from sustained lower oil prices. Thailand spends 15 percent of national income on oil, the largest percentage in the area.
Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia all are moving to reduce oil price supports, or subsidies, which are often a major part in government spending.
Last month Indonesian President Joko Widodo raised subsidized fuel prices by over 30 percent. Trade unions and opposition parties criticized the move. The Indonesian government says it is providing social assistance to over 15 million people to ease the effect of higher fuel costs.
But some experts say it is a matter of time before prices recover. Jack Gerard is president of the American Petroleum Institute. He says demand for oil will rise, and prices will find an equilibrium.
And that's the VOA Learning English Economics Report. I'm Mario Ritter.
词汇解释
1.shrink n. n.收缩；畏缩；<俚>精神病学家 vt. 使缩小，使收缩 vi. .收缩；畏缩<俚>
This kind of cloth shrinks easily.
这种布爱缩水。
2.sanction n. 制裁，处罚；认可；支持 vt. 制裁，处罚；批准；鼓励
The continued abuse of human rights has now led the United States to impose sanctions against the regime.
对人权的不断践踏现已导致美国对该政权实施国际制裁。
3.subsidized adj. 补贴的，补助的 v. 资助或补助（subsidize的过去时和过去分词）
Around the world, governments have subsidized the housing of middle- and upper-income groups.
全世界各政府都补贴过中高收入人群的住房。
内容解析
1."Most Asia-Pacific economies are oil importers and therefore the decline in oil prices is equivalent to a kind of income gain for them and the impact depends on whether they save or spend the income gain."
equivalent to 等于，相当于；与…等值
Eight kilometres is roughly equivalent to five miles.
八公里约等于五英里。
Changing her job like that is equivalent to giving her the sack.
那样调换她的工作等于是解雇她。
参考译文
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
今天我们来谈论油价下跌的影响，石油需求的减少和过多的供应导致油价下跌到5年来的最低位。
上周，石油输出国组织决定将石油产量保持在目前的水平，来自这个12国组织的代表们与会奥地利维也纳，他们未能就改变OPEC的产量目标达成一致。
较低的油价导致一些OPEC国家出现经济困难，这些国家的官员们正寻找削减政府开支的新途径。
委内瑞拉总统上周宣布他和其他政府官员应该将工资削减作为预算削减措施的一部分，路透社称此举是为了应对油价下跌，称委内瑞拉96%的出口收益来自石油销售，该国是拉美通胀率最高的国家之一。
俄罗斯是主要的石油出口国，但却不属于OPEC组织。本周，俄罗斯经济发展部预测2015年俄罗斯经济将紧缩0.8%，石油出口对俄罗斯来说很重要，今年俄罗斯货币对美元的比率下降了大约40%，观察家将之归咎于石油出口利润的下跌，以及西方国家就乌克兰问题对俄罗斯采取的惩罚行动。
但经济学家称油价下跌对亚洲经济体有帮助，安德鲁·科洪就职于总部在香港的惠誉评级公司。
“大多数亚太经济体是石油进口国，因此对这些国家来说，油价下跌相当于增加收入，其影响取决于是积蓄还是将收入花销出去。”
在最近的报告中，惠誉评级公司称中国和大多数亚洲经济体都将从油价持续走低中获利更多，泰国将15%的国民收入用来购买石油，占该地区最大的份额。
泰国、马来西亚和印尼都将减少油价支持即补贴，这种补贴通常是政府开支的重要组成部分。
上月，印尼总统佐科·威多多将接受补贴的油价上涨了30%，工会和反对党批评此举。印尼政府称正给1500万民众提供社会支持来缓解高油价带来的影响。
但有的专家称油价恢复不过是时间的问题，杰克·格瑞德是美国石油学会会长，他说对石油的需求将增加，而油价将会达到一个平衡点。
这就是美国之音慢速英语经济报道，我是马里奥·利特。
