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Brazil's win over Cameroon on Monday should prolong the festive atmosphere that has persisted here since the World Cup kicked off earlier this month.
周一桑巴军团大胜喀麦隆队应该会延续本月早些时候世界杯开赛以来巴西举国上下的欢庆气氛。
Brazilians may need all the distraction they can get. Unbeknown to most soccer fans, economists have slashed their forecasts for Brazil's growth in each of the past four weeks, while inflation looks to remain painfully high through 2015.
巴西人可能需要这样的欢乐气氛来分散他们的注意力。大部分球迷不知道的是，过去四周经济学家连续下调了对巴西经济增长的预期，整个2015年巴西通胀率似乎都将维持在令人痛苦的高位。
'This combination of low growth and pressured inflation makes for a policy makers' nightmare,' economists at Santander said in a report this week. Alberto Ramos, the chief Latin America economist at Goldman Sachs, said last week that Brazil's economy seems to be 'gravitating towards a stagflation scenario.'
西班牙国家银行(Santander)经济学家在本周的一份报告中写道，低增长与高通胀并存成为了决策者的“噩梦”。高盛(Goldman Sachs)首席拉丁美洲经济学家拉莫斯(Alberto Ramos)上周表示，巴西经济似乎正在走向滞胀。
Brazil's 4-1 thrashing of Cameroon put the Seleção in the knockout stage of the Cup, where it will try to string together four consecutive victories for the championship. The hosts are the odds-on favorite to win, but sport bookies still put their chances at just one in three.
巴西4比1力克喀麦隆使得桑巴军团晋级世界杯16强，它将争取在淘汰赛中续写之前三场不败的辉煌。作为此次世界杯的主办国，巴西夺冠呼声很高，但是博彩公司认为巴西夺冠的机率也只有三分之一。
'We really haven't taken as much money for Brazil at this stage in the tournament as we might have expected,' says Alex Donohue, a spokesman for London-based bookie Ladbrokes. He said the early ouster of both England and defending World Cup champions Spain have helped the odds of most other teams that advanced beyond the tournament's group stage.
总部位于伦敦的博彩公司Ladbrokes的发言人多诺霍(Alex Donohue)称，世界杯比到现在这个阶段，押巴西赢的资金并没有他们原先预料的那么多。他说，英格兰队和世界杯卫冕冠军西班牙队的过早出局降低了其他小组赛出线的多数球队的赔率。
Costa Rica's chances of winning, for instance, have improved from 4,000-to-1 to just 66-to-1 thanks to unexpected victories over Uruguay and Italy, Mr. Donohue says.
多诺霍说，例如，由于意外击败了乌拉圭和意大利，哥斯达黎加夺冠的赔率已经从4,000:1降低至66:1。
The tournament has proved to be a happy refuge for Brazilians who, just a few weeks ago, were so displeased with their country's direction that they told pollsters it was a bad idea to host the competition. As has happened countless times in dozens of countries, common support for a soccer team has drawn a nation's attention away from a toxic political environment and a damaged economy.
本次比赛已经证明给巴西人带来了难得的欢乐；仅在几周之前，他们还对国家的方向非常不满，以至于在民调中称举办世界杯是个坏主意。就像在许多国家无数次发生过的那样，对一只足球队的共同支持使得人们的注意力离开有毒的政治环境和糟糕的经济状况。
Elimination from the first World Cup it has hosted in 64 years would bring a hard reality check to Brazil. Earlier this month, a public-opinion study by the Pew Research Center showed that 61% of Brazilians thought hosting the tournament would hurt their country by taking money away from public services.
本月早些时候，Pew Research Center的民调显示，61%的巴西人认为举办世界杯对本国不利，因为钱拿去办比赛了，花在公共服务上的就少了。
'If Brazil wins, a lot of what was said--about overspending on stadiums and other things--will be forgotten,' says Erialdo Rosario, 52, a small-business owner. 'If they lose, it's another story.'
52岁的小业主罗萨里奥(Erialdo Rosario)称，如果巴西赢了，那些有关在体育馆和其他方面过度支出的非议将被忘记；如果巴西输了，那么情况就完全不一样了。
Brazil's economy is seen expanding by a paltry 1.16% this year, according to a weekly central bank consensus survey of 100 economists published Monday. Inflation was seen ending the year at 6.46%.
周一发布的央行每周调查显示，100名经济学家普遍预计今年巴西经济的增长率仅为1.16%。而经济学家对今年年底的通胀率预期却高达6.46%。
Experts say fiscal austerity is Brazil's best bet to bring inflation down. But such a move would also be likely to dent growth, and in an election year that has already been plagued by striking public-sector workers seeking higher pay, the chances of that look slim.
专家称，实施财政紧缩措施是巴西压低通胀率的最佳选择。但这样做也可能会抑制经济增长。今年是大选年，经济增长已经受到了寻求加薪的公共部门工人罢工的拖累，因此政府实施财政紧缩措施的可能性似乎不大。
President Dilma Rousseff in May announced a 10% increase to the government's hallmark social program, known as 'Bolsa Familia,' while Finance Minister Guido Mantega last week extended a pair of business tax-credit programs.
巴西总统罗塞夫(Dilma Rousseff)曾在5月份宣布，将把政府标志性社保项目“家庭津贴计划”(Bolsa Familia)的规模扩大10%。该国财政部长曼特加(Guido Mantega)上周延长了两个企业税收减免方案的实施期限。
Pedro Barbosa, a partner at Rio de Janeiro-based hedge fund STK Capital, said the measures are akin to driving a car up a hill and then shifting into fourth gear.
位于里约热内卢的对冲基金STK Capital的合伙人巴尔博萨(Pedro Barbosa)称，这些措施就好像开车上山，然后把车速提到四档。
'The government's economic model has clearly run its course and has left a very bad mix of high inflation, low growth and high spending,' Mr. Barbosa said. 'Today's game in Brasilia was beautiful, a great show. But it was almost like a dream.'
巴尔博萨称，显然政府的经济模式已经走到尽头，现在的情况是高通胀、低增长、高支出；今天在巴西利亚进行的比赛非常精彩，但感觉几乎是一场梦。
