The British Financial System 8 v0 t2 J' Q6 j9 X- J. q% D
英国金融制度 3 o/ {0 ^ P2 E6 N, m6 R1 A: b: J
Situation 8 2 X% L. Q& o o- m" r% F6 @
情景 8 : J) e+ ^' w8 R0 U/ O
Tatsuo Horita ,a banker from Japan ,is visiting with an officer ofthe Bank of England .
" W; c. D! {/ A$ Q( ` 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, 7 y, [% v& W$ h4 [
They are talking about the British monetary and financial system . 6 n4 ~4 u$ K/ X2 C1 z
他们正谈论着英国的货币和金融制度。 ! E$ ?3 _% |6 c) H7 m
Horita:I understand that Bank of England notes have been legal tender in Britain since the earlypart of the 19th century .
. E( A/ j$ i. 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。 ( h4 J& u n; H D
Officer:Yes,actually from 1883,long before the Bank of England was the official central bank forBritain.
/ G# g# t: i8 K& 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, " c( Q2 ?" N5 \: C) S
And special restrictions put on note issurance by other banks in 1844 caused most banks todiscontinue issuing notes.
: X0 H' Q' M8 Y( f/ T 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 G0 x5 T% j( c! F- [- a4 h6 L! i
H:Weren’t Bank of England notes backed by specie?
3 d1 y' j& e# z. g0 J+ O$ [! o 堀 田:英格兰银行发行的纸币不是以金银铸币作为依据吗? # q% |' H3 K+ O9 ?) x6 G7 H% m
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. 1 j% N% P( `1 f0 i; R1 o: O& I! m7 F
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# q. o i8 C9 H6 _. q! z H:When did the Bank of England become the official central bank of the United Kingdom?
r# B$ I3 H1 x( o3 a7 n+ b 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? 6 y2 h [9 |' h$ n( v' P1 F0 z
O:That’s difficult to say .Actually ,the bank was nationalized by the government in 1946.
& L' K: I% i1 {. m4 F 职员:这很难说,实际上,在1946年政府已将其收归国有。
0 Y- d2 }1 G) y4 v$ d Before that ,however ,the bank had been the central banking instituion for over a century .
7 d: {$ e' G% _7 k: s& H4 l0 F 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。 % W& G- n1 I8 ^' ?/ }
While we were privately owned ,successive governments felt that we operated in the public interestand gradually enacted laws,
2 i8 x% |- Z* j0 i, i0 D& l 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,
1 i7 n' c) ]( f$ R which gave us various supervisory functions over other banks . 7 e) ~0 g) L" N, B, F8 b
这一切赋予了我们对其他银行的各种监督职能。 # m( K+ z3 o; X8 A; [* `
H:So the bank now makes fiscal and monetary policies for the country ?
! d1 p& B$ Q0 Z, \ 堀田:因此,目前该银行就是为国家制定财政和金融政策的。
* `' @! B+ F( \* M O:In coperation with the Cabinet we do .Our functions are not as independent as those of theFederal Reserve in the United States.
# q6 [3 _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。 |