VOA常速英语2014--Malaysians Brace Themselves as Government Cuts Key Subsidies 马来西亚政府削减关键补贴 平衡预算

Malaysians Brace 1 Themselves as Government Cuts Key Subsidies 2 马来西亚政府削减关键补贴 平衡预算

KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian authorities are slashing 3 subsidies on fuel, natural gas and sugar in a bid to get government debt under control. As the steps take a hit on consumers’ finances, critics say authorities should instead target government waste and graft 4.

为了控制政府国债问题，马来西亚当局削减对燃料、天然气以及糖类的补助。这个措施由于对消费者的打击遭到抨击，批评家说，马来西亚政府应该把矛头指向政府浪费和贪污问题。

The Malaysian government has been running deficits 6 since the Asian financial crisis in 1998. Late last year, it took its first major step to reign 7 in spending by slashing huge fuel subsidies.

从1998年亚洲金融危机以来，马来西亚政府的预算就一直处于赤字。去年晚些时候，马来西亚政府大幅削减燃料补贴，这是为了控制支出所采取的第一个主要步骤。

People, like mother of two Chan Sook Peng, say that prices of essential goods have already shot up since then.

陈淑彭是两个孩子的母亲。她说，从那时开始，生活必需品的价格就已经狂涨。

“Actually I am very worried. We just try to go out less, eat out less, cook more at home, pull all our plugs from the power source just to try and save our electricity. We try to save our water,” says Peng.

陈淑彭说：“其实我很担心。我们只能少出门、少在外头吃饭，多在家煮饭，为了省电，不用电器的时候把插头拔掉，并且节省用水。”

Malaysians are bracing 8 themselves for worse to come.

马来西亚民众已经做了最坏的打算。

The government has said it will introduce a long-delayed Goods and Services Tax starting next year. And it recently announced increases to highway tolls 9, electricity tariffs 10 and public transportation fares. Economist 11 Yeah Kim Leng of the Rating Agency of Malaysia supports the moves.

政府表示，明年开始将推出拖延已久的商品及服务税，政府最近也宣布，将增收高速公路通行费、电费和大众交通的票价。马来西亚经济学家姚金龙支持这些措施。

“Its important that the government rationalize the subsidies because it now makes up more than half the fiscal 12 deficit 5 and that in itself is not sustainable,” said Leng.

他说：“政府把补贴合理化是非常重要的，因为这些补贴造成超过半数的政府负债，不能这样长期延续下去。”

Only around one tenth of Malaysia’s working population actually pays income tax. And the government relies on the royalties 13 from the state oil company, Petronas, for up to 40 percent of its revenue.

大约只有十分之一的马来西亚工作人口真正在缴所得税。政府的税收40%来自马来西亚国家石油公司的特许权使用费。

Some distribution of the burden is therefore needed, says Leng.

“This so-called overreliance on the national oil company is actually not prudent 14. So that's the basis for actually implementing 16 the long-awaited GST,” says Leng.

姚金龙说：“这种所谓对国家石油公司的过度依赖实际上并不慎重。因此才会实施政府规划已久的商品及服务税。”

The political opposition 17 says it is not against trimming subsidies or other spending cuts in principle.

马来西亚在野党说，原则上它并不反对削减补贴或者其他削减开支的做法。

But opposition politician Rafizi Ramli of the People’s Justice Party points to the government’s own auditor 18 general’s reports, which he says show a huge waste of public funds year after year. 

不过，反对党政界人物拉菲日?拉姆利指出，马来西亚审计长在报告中点出每年都有巨额浪费公帑的问题。

“No matter how many new taxes you implement 15, no matter how [many] new stream[s] of income you bring to the government, unless there is a discipline to get rid of wastages [waste], corruption 20, to re-look at the procurement 21 practices of the country, it's like pouring money into a black hole,” says Ramli.

拉菲日?拉姆利说：“不管征收多少新的税收明目，不管政府如何开源，除非破除浪费与贪污的问题，重新检讨政府采购的做法，否则，就好像把钱倒入一个大黑洞里。”

International surveys indicate Malaysia is comparatively less corrupt 19 than other countries in Southeast Asia. Just before the new year, Prime Minister Najib Razak did announce some cuts to spending allowances for Members of Parliament and civil servants.

国际调查显示，相较于其他东南亚国家，马来西亚的腐败问题较不严重。就在新年前夕，马来西亚首相纳吉?阿都拉萨宣布一些削减议会成员和公务员的开支津贴措施。

But busy Malaysian mother Chan Sook Peng say those cuts are nothing compared to the sacrifices people like her will have to make just to get by.

不过，忙碌的马来西亚妈妈陈淑彭说，这跟一般民众为了过基本生活而做的牺牲来比，根本不算什么。