VOA慢速英语2011--A Credit Downgrade for Japan, but Some S

Economics Report - A Credit Downgrade for Japan, but Some Signs of Hope

经济报道 - 穆迪下调日本国债信用评级

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。

This week, Moody’s Investors 1 Service lowered its credit rating for Japanese government debt. The credit rating agency downgraded Japan one step from Aa2 to Aa3.

本周，穆迪投资者服务公司(Moody's Investors Service)将日本国债信用评级从Aa2下调一档至Aa3。

(SOUND)

Finance Minster Yoshihiko Noda said trust in the economy "will not be shaken" by Wednesday's action.

日本财务大臣野田佳彦（Yoshihiko Noda）表示，人们对日本经济的信任不会因为周三的下调而动摇。

Moody’s said it acted because of Japan’s large budget deficits 3 and buildup in government debt since the two thousand nine global recession. Japan's public debt is twice the size of its economy. Japan has the world’s third-largest economy.

穆迪（Moody's）表示下调日本评级的原因是由于2009年全球经济衰退以来日本巨大的预算赤字和不断累计的政府债务。日本公共债务是其经济规模的两倍。日本是全球第三大经济体。

Moody’s said another reason was Japan’s political situation. Japan has already had five prime ministers since two thousand six. Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced his resignation Friday.

穆迪表示另一个原因是由于日本的政治局势。自2006年以来日本已历经5任首相。现任首相菅直人（Naoto Kan）预计即将辞职。（注：今日中午消息，菅直人已正式宣布辞职，执政仅14个月。）

Japan struggled more than many other countries after the worldwide financial crisis. This month, Japan said its economy shrank at an annual rate of 1.3 percent from April through June. It was the third quarter of shrinkage in a row.

全球经济危机后，日本比其它国家更为艰难。日本本月表示，今年4到6月份，日本经济年化收缩了1.3%，这已经是日本经济连续第三个季度收缩。

The earthquake and tsunami 4 in March hurt manufacturing. Shortages of parts led to a big drop in sales and profit for Toyota, the world's top selling carmaker.

三月发生的地震和海啸损害了日本制造业。零部件短缺导致全球最畅销汽车制造商丰田的销量和利润大幅下降。

Yet the report on the economy was good news. Economists 5 had expected a bigger decrease following the disasters and the nuclear crisis that followed.

然而日本经济报告却是一大利好。经济学家此前预计地震和随之而来的核危机将导致日本经济一次更大的下降。

But there is concern that a rise in the yen 6 could hurt growth. A high exchange value makes Japanese exports costlier 7 and less competitive. This week, Japan announced a program of one hundred billion dollars in loans to support business spending. The goal is to help weaken the yen and lift economic growth.

但有人担心日元升值会损害日本经济增长。高汇率会使日本出口成本提高，竞争力减弱。本周，日本宣布了一个千亿美元贷款的项目以支持企业投资，其目标是削弱日元和提升经济增长。

Bond traders said Moody's downgrade of Japan was not a surprise. The action had the expected effect of raising borrowing costs for the Japanese government. Still, at about one percent, Japan enjoys the lowest borrowing costs of any major developed nation.

债券交易商表示，穆迪下调日本评级并不意外。这一举动有提升日本政府借贷成本的预期效果。然而，在主要发达国家中，日本仍享有最低的借贷成本，仅为1%左右。

Earlier this month, another credit rating agency downgraded United States government debt for the first time. Standard and Poor's blamed the political fight over the nation's debt.

本月早些时候，另一家信用评级机构标普（Standard and Poor'）首次下调了美国国债信用评级。标普指责美国国债政治斗争不断。

Foreigners hold much of the public debt of the United States and some other countries. But ninety-five percent of Japan's debt securities are held by Japanese, mostly banks and retirement 8 funds.

美国和其他国家大部分公共债务由国外投资者持有。但日本国债的95%由日本人持有，主要是日本银行和退休基金。

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Kan met with American Vice 2 President Joe Biden. Mr. Biden visited Japan at the end of a trip to Asia.

周二，日本首相菅直人会见了美国副总统拜登。拜登亚洲之行的最后一站访问了日本。

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report. For more business news and to learn English, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Mario Ritter.