Tatsuo Horita ,a banker from Japan ,is visiting with an officer ofthe Bank of England . / k& t/ ?' u! [3 t
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 o, D) Q0 s6 L They are talking about the British monetary and financial system . L4 C; _+ I8 R& |9 |
他们正谈论着英国的货币和金融制度。 * g! J: W% B: a9 c8 K, K5 U
Horita:I understand that Bank of England notes have been legal tender in Britain since the earlypart of the 19th century .
: {- s! z+ M7 d; i, Y 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。 9 R/ q; @7 ^. R8 Q! k
Officer:Yes,actually from 1883,long before the Bank of England was the official central bank forBritain. 9 f" h, @" n) T/ T- B
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,
! _/ n0 ?( O5 q9 H2 V A And special restrictions put on note issurance by other banks in 1844 caused most banks todiscontinue issuing notes.
) g/ V" \$ |$ X1 T0 I; ~. 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。
& n6 [# Q: j0 k: a: M5 J) R8 O H:Weren’t Bank of England notes backed by specie? # V7 ~* @ ^) z1 B
堀 田:英格兰银行发行的纸币不是以金银铸币作为依据吗? 6 `7 y5 P) d: c! Y2 q7 X* k0 ~
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. ' o7 m: G% \! `/ Y$ E
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。 4 e* K- a8 X& L( J, p
H:When did the Bank of England become the official central bank of the United Kingdom?
$ u' E& l+ O- P S$ d+ o" F: G2 z 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? ! m H: B! |" u9 E9 |" K% r
O:That’s difficult to say .Actually ,the bank was nationalized by the government in 1946. 5 J& B! z A, K# y) C
职员:这很难说,实际上,在1946年政府已将其收归国有。 * v" S' l5 G o% n. @1 m
Before that ,however ,the bank had been the central banking instituion for over a century . . z2 ?) u. ^/ O" H/ s$ z
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。
$ x4 y, A x% K) g While we were privately owned ,successive governments felt that we operated in the public interestand gradually enacted laws,
) E2 X* r: Y! u h- R: ?# i- A 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,
+ v1 d( N9 i( ` which gave us various supervisory functions over other banks . 2 ]' k( D" a, m. _8 P' \7 Z* z
这一切赋予了我们对其他银行的各种监督职能。 ) b, l( v3 U. A! k) I& ?
H:So the bank now makes fiscal and monetary policies for the country ? 1 s1 e$ O4 G- k2 i9 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。
+ r& U3 A/ p0 F) c O:In coperation with the Cabinet we do .Our functions are not as independent as those of theFederal Reserve in the United States. 2 F# g$ `) i* T6 F- O/ r& a& X9 {
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。 |