The British Financial System
) _8 D8 j% K# ^1 w1 r 英国金融制度 ' Z, j' I& S. t' Z* U1 g
Situation 8
# ~* N7 w. |" b& T# @# A: l2 f 情景 8 3 k" C8 ?7 H o @5 `8 C( ~) Y, p4 C
Tatsuo Horita ,a banker from Japan ,is visiting with an officer ofthe Bank of England .
0 i* {4 }( V0 A. X$ ]0 x; q2 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,
' w% h2 H! ^; \7 o& A* h6 I They are talking about the British monetary and financial system . ' z; H9 K4 _% j6 r! Y& b* N
他们正谈论着英国的货币和金融制度。
8 T$ a6 A, Z/ r' q" y7 Y0 P Horita:I understand that Bank of England notes have been legal tender in Britain since the earlypart of the 19th century .
& ^% ~3 X! h3 @6 z( i! d0 i 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。 $ h/ Y& ]7 K8 {
Officer:Yes,actually from 1883,long before the Bank of England was the official central bank forBritain. . U9 m' `4 W% D- C
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, * ~4 U( o0 M- O! ?; A
And special restrictions put on note issurance by other banks in 1844 caused most banks todiscontinue issuing notes. 0 [( x, }( @7 o" M- P
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。
A3 p5 Q* o# _) b. G$ x j H:Weren’t Bank of England notes backed by specie?
+ p7 T9 O2 {1 j3 C- q8 G( G 堀 田:英格兰银行发行的纸币不是以金银铸币作为依据吗? # w9 @4 M- F9 Q! Y) s" I
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. $ g; w- J3 q3 d: `3 I! V7 v! `
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。 9 o- F: e3 y N9 o2 U
H:When did the Bank of England become the official central bank of the United Kingdom? # y- ~2 n9 z+ C4 b/ d1 z6 ?
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 f- Q% n1 h1 i6 U O:That’s difficult to say .Actually ,the bank was nationalized by the government in 1946. 4 H; A1 @& O8 C1 T: [% ]: x2 @
职员:这很难说,实际上,在1946年政府已将其收归国有。
6 j& d, m) @ _( t2 ?3 t Before that ,however ,the bank had been the central banking instituion for over a century .
; d: c T* A Z2 F; A2 o: v 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。
# _" j' J7 w5 l6 \% z8 c5 D While we were privately owned ,successive governments felt that we operated in the public interestand gradually enacted laws,
0 c* A$ Q9 X W0 A# ~; n: r 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,
' Q3 P4 G4 G& U/ c5 P9 C5 v which gave us various supervisory functions over other banks .
, z$ c; l8 e) p, z8 ] 这一切赋予了我们对其他银行的各种监督职能。
% }. X% c! _) J! D4 n H:So the bank now makes fiscal and monetary policies for the country ?
- H$ ^# u" h& |5 u/ W 堀田:因此,目前该银行就是为国家制定财政和金融政策的。
7 V4 [. Z1 }, G# N8 }, Q+ S O:In coperation with the Cabinet we do .Our functions are not as independent as those of theFederal Reserve in the United States.
& E4 ]) T9 Y6 _' s" C" W: T 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。 |