The British Financial System0 @8 ?( W: W6 P3 E
英国金融制度8 \+ t+ _1 N+ a6 {2 [9 D# \# U7 L
Situation 8& X- G, s- J' Z0 g4 H( @
情景 8
8 c" E/ n9 X5 _/ r* W; C; f; Y* E9 S Tatsuo Horita ,a banker from Japan ,is visiting with an officer ofthe Bank of England .3 K5 h% V8 s6 e1 g/ y/ }
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,
0 {7 L/ v8 G0 N6 e& R They are talking about the British monetary and financial system .1 T& N+ N; ?7 O7 _
他们正谈论着英国的货币和金融制度。! W1 @* y2 l6 ^4 G5 F+ ?
Horita:I understand that Bank of England notes have been legal tender in Britain since the earlypart of the 19th century .
2 U7 @3 \7 y; c* \: m m; c. e 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。
1 `! t# I) K* B( o0 \ Officer:Yes,actually from 1883,long before the Bank of England was the official central bank forBritain.+ m B H3 f' Q6 t
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,
! n2 _) o% J( m/ v% [4 U And special restrictions put on note issurance by other banks in 1844 caused most banks todiscontinue issuing notes.
, E3 o; O/ l7 n! P J3 y! o 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。- J! F- W& k+ G% f& A! a& g2 t
H:Weren’t Bank of England notes backed by specie?# I/ S7 u z) L3 A' t) s
堀 田:英格兰银行发行的纸币不是以金银铸币作为依据吗?
8 e) B8 K- q. B' }9 s 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.! O% \' f1 t1 p0 v. k2 b
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。
$ ?- h: I+ q9 o: q- r H:When did the Bank of England become the official central bank of the United Kingdom?
4 l9 J% T/ [6 F% k: v2 X 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?
8 S5 T" E1 W2 L6 I4 h! r" P O:That’s difficult to say .Actually ,the bank was nationalized by the government in 1946.
& G5 o5 u. e3 G) i 职员:这很难说,实际上,在1946年政府已将其收归国有。& n; t- w1 I; w. p2 ^: t& S
Before that ,however ,the bank had been the central banking instituion for over a century .
- G: R5 |' Y8 P9 B 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。5 @" }, y. S. J; R
While we were privately owned ,successive governments felt that we operated in the public interestand gradually enacted laws,
6 u% ~% L$ x! J3 G9 } 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,
! t' U* r y2 L6 |% ~6 ~) T which gave us various supervisory functions over other banks .% V( ^) v7 z* ~9 Y
这一切赋予了我们对其他银行的各种监督职能。7 g4 |8 X9 }0 ~3 @/ v
H:So the bank now makes fiscal and monetary policies for the country ?. Y3 S8 E: g- L. e: d5 l: o+ a, a
堀田:因此,目前该银行就是为国家制定财政和金融政策的。; u9 e3 K% c0 L @% g6 x# D
O:In coperation with the Cabinet we do .Our functions are not as independent as those of theFederal Reserve in the United States.
6 E) s' @( X# d' p 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。 |