The Bank of England launched its biggest stimulus package since the financial crisis yesterday and said it stood ready to make further interest rate cuts this year in an attempt to cushion a looming Brexit-induced downturn.

英国央行(Bank of England)昨日推出其自金融危机以来规模最大的刺激方案，并表示准备好在今年进一步降息，以缓冲即将出现的由退欧引发的经济低迷。

Mark Carney, BoE governor, said there was a “clear case for stimulus, and stimulus now” after a string of business surveys suggested the UK was heading for recession because of the uncertainty following Britain’s vote to leave the EU.

英国央行行长马克•卡尼(Mark Carney)表示，现在有“明确的理由推出刺激措施，而且马上推出”，此前一系列商业调查显示，由于英国退欧公投后的不确定性，英国正滑向经济衰退。

Mr Carney warned that despite the central bank’s “exceptional package of measures” — which included its first rate cut in more than seven years and a new ￡70bn bond-buying programme — 250,000 people were set to lose their jobs because of the economic shock.

卡尼警告称，尽管英国央行推出“一系列特别措施”（包括7年多来首次降息以及新的700亿英镑债券购买计划），但有25万人将因为经济冲击而失业。

Although the cut in interest rates to a record low of 0.25 per cent from 0.5 had been widely predicted, the restarting of bond purchases and a new ￡100bn funding scheme for banks was more than many in the market expected.

尽管市场普遍预测到英国央行将利率从0.5%降至0.25%的创纪录低点，但重启债券购买计划以及新的1000亿英镑银行资助方案超出市场很多人的预期。

Sterling fell 1.5 per cent against the dollar to $1.31, while both the blue-chip FTSE 100 and more UK-focused FTSE 250 indices rose 1.5 per cent — driven by outperformance in banking stocks.

英镑兑美元汇率下跌1.5%，至1英镑兑1.31美元，蓝筹股指数富时100(FTSE 100)以及更关注英国的富时250(FTSE 250)指数均上涨1.5%，这得益于银行类股的表现超过大盘。

The market reaction belied the gloomy outlook presented by Mr Carney. Even with the new stimulus taken into account, the BoE forecasts include the biggest downgrade to growth for more than 20 years.

市场反应掩盖了卡尼陈述的黯淡前景。即便考虑到新的刺激措施，英国央行的预测还是包括20多年来最大幅度的增长预测下调。

Currently, the BoE expects the country narrowly to avoid outright recession, forecasting growth of 0.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2016 and stagnation for the six months after that.

目前，英国央行预测，英国经济将勉强避免真正的衰退，预计2016年第三季度增长0.1%，之后6个月陷入停滞。