Tatsuo Horita ,a banker from Japan ,is visiting with an officer ofthe Bank of England . + e _2 Z: i: E5 R7 n( F, E: g
来自日本的银行家堀田达夫正在与英格兰银行的一位高级职员闲谈, - R" e F$ b5 l3 u* E) @
They are talking about the British monetary and financial system . * x( c3 F ]# m
他们正谈论着英国的货币和金融制度。 ; {9 t1 A( a3 J" t$ [
Horita:I understand that Bank of England notes have been legal tender in Britain since the earlypart of the 19th century .
. M7 ^ v6 e4 x8 D: G! k 堀 田:据我所知,从19世纪初叶,英格兰银行发行的纸币就已经成为英国的法币了。
: E! A1 W/ W8 B Officer:Yes,actually from 1883,long before the Bank of England was the official central bank forBritain.
1 @. o T9 S6 q% Q+ j) P 职 员:是的,实际上从1833年开始,英格兰银行早已成为英国的官方中央银行了,
: x/ E$ n: @) L$ o$ X And special restrictions put on note issurance by other banks in 1844 caused most banks todiscontinue issuing notes.
7 I- D- ^1 Q+ b1 \, n 而且在1844年,还对其他银行的货币发行实行期一些特别的限制,这就使得大多数的银行不再继续发行纸币。 ! U8 e0 \7 z# A2 s! q4 |
H:Weren’t Bank of England notes backed by specie? % f+ ~2 Z4 @' q0 {: W
堀 田:英格兰银行发行的纸币不是以金银铸币作为依据吗? 3 a5 X( G% E8 l* F) w
O:Specie or government bonds until 1931.Since then ,of course,the Bank of England like othercentral banks has not held specie reserves equal to our note issue. 2 o8 [7 X7 g+ Z2 M6 {& m
职 员:直到1931年,还是以铸币或政府的债券为依据的。当然,从那以后,象其它的中央银行一样,英格兰银行并不持有与我们发行的纸币等量的金银铸币储备。 ! w# s, ~- C& P7 w/ z3 R) [
H:When did the Bank of England become the official central bank of the United Kingdom?
1 p" P% M8 r6 D+ b4 G2 L3 L 堀 田:英格兰银行什么时候成为联合王国的官方中央银行的呢?
) u* Y; ~/ c- o9 m9 U O:That’s difficult to say .Actually ,the bank was nationalized by the government in 1946. ' ^8 s/ n: e& `2 \. d1 J5 s
职员:这很难说,实际上,在1946年政府已将其收归国有。 j# q; u6 @) Q( j
Before that ,however ,the bank had been the central banking instituion for over a century . - l( n% B/ I5 u6 B r% k5 I7 q
然而,在这之前,英格兰银行就已经成为中央银行有100多年了。 : h1 n& l2 Y# P9 O6 O( i8 Q
While we were privately owned ,successive governments felt that we operated in the public interestand gradually enacted laws,
( r# y! N. m/ U. g N* @& t 当时,虽然我们是私立银行,但历届政府都认为我们的业务经营活动有利于公众利益,并逐步地有所立法, # k- |' U) ?" x
which gave us various supervisory functions over other banks . 8 G( g8 c" H4 i! ^, W/ W; k, w( J' P
这一切赋予了我们对其他银行的各种监督职能。 / f+ l9 }- i' y% I" J7 D. G) M) ~
H:So the bank now makes fiscal and monetary policies for the country ? % R2 f6 p \ c: x
堀田:因此,目前该银行就是为国家制定财政和金融政策的。 / v% c) V* Z+ T8 k: H
O:In coperation with the Cabinet we do .Our functions are not as independent as those of theFederal Reserve in the United States.
- H2 O! L, l1 x% I; ^5 S 职员:我们在与内阁合作中行使我们的职能,但我们的职能不象美国联邦储备那样具有独立性。 |