The British Financial System: i" V9 Q6 k7 M, {3 ^3 R
英国金融制度: j$ D9 g: H" k2 W3 D
Situation 8& F/ \/ v) G& i' G
情景 83 A5 P1 J* n2 A! J$ R: X
Tatsuo Horita ,a banker from Japan ,is visiting with an officer ofthe Bank of England .$ p. x& T0 Y- N3 K
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,
' G. p2 r6 A2 s, r4 k6 H! X, p6 H- W They are talking about the British monetary and financial system .5 g+ J0 h u, k& _
他们正谈论着英国的货币和金融制度。8 b5 b! } | ]& N+ n
Horita:I understand that Bank of England notes have been legal tender in Britain since the earlypart of the 19th century .
; s2 i& C$ ~1 G W: u; V! v 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。
% |' v! Q4 H3 q" [0 p& E% j' A( A Officer:Yes,actually from 1883,long before the Bank of England was the official central bank forBritain.
$ e$ }0 m2 O0 c9 Y' v 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,
2 I# I3 H0 j) S$ |' f8 B And special restrictions put on note issurance by other banks in 1844 caused most banks todiscontinue issuing notes.
& J6 v' v. }4 l; ]' } 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。
6 q4 G, b: c9 B& Q1 H H:Weren’t Bank of England notes backed by specie?
( x+ v, m1 o4 e- \5 \ 堀 田:英格兰银行发行的纸币不是以金银铸币作为依据吗?: x* [+ x9 B A+ ^7 `" r2 ?4 }
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.) k x8 R, T; P' g- `/ b( c
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。 \- k) `6 F/ l% h3 J, y
H:When did the Bank of England become the official central bank of the United Kingdom?
" m, Z4 P# E, q; 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?3 n( _& p+ b4 [- Y" b, ?
O:That’s difficult to say .Actually ,the bank was nationalized by the government in 1946.
' }3 r% z9 @2 }$ i' H- }5 p. W 职员:这很难说,实际上,在1946年政府已将其收归国有。0 |/ B8 W2 ?7 k2 W' S9 L/ b3 d
Before that ,however ,the bank had been the central banking instituion for over a century .
* `9 @$ w: P1 B8 O; v: W! G0 y 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。1 e1 n2 R1 z5 I6 j; p
While we were privately owned ,successive governments felt that we operated in the public interestand gradually enacted laws,
, z9 w0 @! w9 p! `. O! H& A. o 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,9 e$ x# y0 ]- d8 D6 I* i
which gave us various supervisory functions over other banks .
' U- y0 Y" J0 Z; B0 [; ?3 r 这一切赋予了我们对其他银行的各种监督职能。% ^- H/ f5 U7 q1 X* Q
H:So the bank now makes fiscal and monetary policies for the country ?: h' W9 G; T: U/ L( q* a' A% o8 }
堀田:因此,目前该银行就是为国家制定财政和金融政策的。3 J. v- ]- x7 B( Q6 Z0 s3 ]. r( u4 \
O:In coperation with the Cabinet we do .Our functions are not as independent as those of theFederal Reserve in the United States.
4 ?3 D4 q9 W }$ W8 E 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。 |