Tatsuo Horita ,a banker from Japan ,is visiting with an officer ofthe Bank of England .
9 k, ^" n) b! d6 K# @3 X 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,
% U8 Z- A. {; i6 w: i/ l They are talking about the British monetary and financial system .
% M4 B- M. K, ~) v/ m4 }; c 他们正谈论着英国的货币和金融制度。 - l# R5 g! ?. J2 E
Horita:I understand that Bank of England notes have been legal tender in Britain since the earlypart of the 19th century .
8 w/ c( e5 U7 g8 c! K4 \* Y0 t0 g, U6 t" _* O 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。 7 N9 `& K7 ~5 Y3 Q$ f6 D# T
Officer:Yes,actually from 1883,long before the Bank of England was the official central bank forBritain. $ B6 Y) Z J1 H+ A4 L
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,
# z( f2 F Z% o* K And special restrictions put on note issurance by other banks in 1844 caused most banks todiscontinue issuing notes.
" L' ?# S, F3 @) D6 U 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。 ' D+ V6 q) A0 f5 R. o# @
H:Weren’t Bank of England notes backed by specie?
" t% C% Q+ P+ V. F 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 s: `' s2 N8 g1 K6 q8 m. U2 t
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. & a9 W A. G6 u3 G8 p
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。 0 L+ X4 U4 I% W$ F, t' m: H3 a) y
H:When did the Bank of England become the official central bank of the United Kingdom? # b" C8 v6 y. o2 O' C- F
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 ~* U! ]& j( q6 I3 |+ C E O:That’s difficult to say .Actually ,the bank was nationalized by the government in 1946.
7 S1 g1 k( x' B5 F4 m @ 职员:这很难说,实际上,在1946年政府已将其收归国有。 3 O8 q0 L) g' K, o/ M! _
Before that ,however ,the bank had been the central banking instituion for over a century . ( t5 F+ |8 W0 P% 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。
3 Z u' x5 B4 T( h While we were privately owned ,successive governments felt that we operated in the public interestand gradually enacted laws, 2 t8 @+ T9 s) k4 }/ ?$ p
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,
' J* u5 d V9 \+ K7 S- t3 Y which gave us various supervisory functions over other banks . / {! L) R: Y2 @2 j K
这一切赋予了我们对其他银行的各种监督职能。 : H5 Z8 m" n9 u2 A; I
H:So the bank now makes fiscal and monetary policies for the country ? - d. J8 w0 a& r* F
堀田:因此,目前该银行就是为国家制定财政和金融政策的。 / u4 D+ O' x) \; Q% |5 E4 e
O:In coperation with the Cabinet we do .Our functions are not as independent as those of theFederal Reserve in the United States. * B9 a6 N5 {" H; n$ d
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。 |