World Leaders Continue Efforts to Stem Financial Crisis
世界领导人努力应对金融危机

　
European leaders met in Paris Sunday to forge a coordinated effort for confronting the global financial crisis. The gathering was the latest multi-national effort to contain fallout from a credit crunch that has sparked market meltdowns and threatened worldwide economic growth.

欧洲国家领导人在巴黎会晤，为应对全球金融危机而制定协调一致的计划。这次会议是几个国家为控制由于信贷紧缩而起的经济崩溃所作的最新努力。信贷紧缩已经引起市场崩溃，威胁世界经济增长。

While European leaders gathered in France, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund continued consultations in Washington, where G-Seven finance ministers met late last week. Although the meeting generated no concrete, immediate actions by the world's top industrialized nations, participants pledged close cooperation to rescue distressed banks, prevent bankruptcies and assure that credit flows resume.

在欧洲国家领导人齐聚法国的同时，世界银行和国际货币基金组织继续在华盛顿磋商。7国集团的财政部长上周末在华盛顿会晤。尽管世界最强的工业国家没有在会议上提出要采取什么具体和立即的行动，但是与会者表示一定要紧密合作，挽救处于困境的银行，防止破产和确保信贷流动得以恢复。

Recent weeks have seen nations employ more aggressive measures to prop up financial institutions, ease tight credit, and reassure panicky investors.

最近几个星期来，一些国家采取更加积极的措施，支撑金融机构，缓解信贷紧张和让恐慌的投资人放心。

Now, the Bush administration is proposing the federal government invest directly in troubled U.S. banks, which would constitute a partial-nationalization of America's banking sector. Several European countries have already undertaken similar initiatives.

目前，布什政府正在建议联邦政府直接投资处于困境的美国银行。这将造成美国银行部门部分国有化。几个欧洲国家已经采取了类似的做法。

Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers says strengthening the banking system is vital.

前财政部长萨默斯说，加强银行体系至关重要。

"The stock market is merely the sideshow in this circus," said Summers. "It is the banking system that has to be put back together, and it has got to be put back together fast."

他说：“股票市场只是整个局面的次要问题。要重新整顿、恢复运作的正是银行系统，而且必须要迅速恢复。”

Summers was speaking on ABC's This Week program.

萨默斯是在美国广播公司“本周”节目上说这番话。

Last week saw most major stock markets fall by a record 20 percent or more.

上星期，大多数主要股票市场超记录地下跌20%，或更多。

Only concrete, coordinated action by governments around the world can stop the slide, according to the head of the Washington-based Institute for International Economics, Fred Bergsten.

位于华盛顿的国际经济研究所所长伯格斯滕说，只有世界各国政府采取具体的和协调一致的行动，才能制止经济继续下滑。

"We are in the midst of a crisis of confidence. The financial markets are near panic. They need reassuring steps from the governments and the central banks," said Bergsten. "The governments and central banks need to take a series of very specific measures to get the credit markets functioning again, to get the banks lending again, to get the economy moving forward again. We need those decisions in the next day or two to get confidence back on track."

伯格斯滕说，“我们正处在信心危机之中。金融市场已经到了恐慌的边缘。市场需要政府和中央银行采取能够让人放心的步骤。政府和中央银行需要采取一系列非常具体的措施，让信贷市场再次运行起来，让银行再次贷款，让经济再次发展。我们需要在今后一两天内作出这些决定来恢复信心。”

Bergsten was speaking on CBS' Face the Nation.

伯格斯滕是在哥伦比亚广播公司的“面对全国”节目上说这番话。

The worldwide credit crunch began in the United States, which has weathered a wave of home foreclosures after a prolonged period of lax lending standards that saw millions of Americans acquire mortgages they could not afford.

世界范围的信贷紧缩开始于美国。美国在长期施行宽松贷款标准之后，经历了一轮住房被收回的潮流。过于宽松的贷款标准使几百万美国人获得他们支付不起的抵押贷款。

In recent weeks, the financial contagion has spread to Europe, Asia, and scores of developing nations.

最近几个星期来，金融问题蔓延到欧洲、亚洲和几十个发展中国家。

To combat the problem, the Bush administration has propped up and taken over failing U.S. financial institutions, championed a massive government rescue package, and tried to make it easier for businesses to finance short term needs.

为了解决这一问题，布什政府支持并且接管了摇摇欲坠的美国金融机构，推行大规模政府收购计划，并且试图让商家更容易资助短期需求。

A growing consensus among economists and government officials holds that while individual nations must take steps on their own, only coordinated global efforts can stem the crisis.

经济学家和政府官员一致认为，虽然每个国家必须采取各自不同的步骤来处理这个局面，但是只有全球协调一致才能避免危机。