国际货币基金组织简介--中英文对照.doc

国际货币基金组织简介-——中英文对照What is the IMF? Founded in 1945, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a cooperative, intergovernmental, monetary and financial institution that seeks to promote international monetary cooperation and currency exchange stability, foster economic growth and high levels of employment, and to provide balance-of-payments assistance. Its initial membership of 39 has grown to 184 as of the year 2002.何为国际货币基金组织？国际货币基金组织1945年成立，它是一个政府间的、合作性的货币和金融机构，目的是为了促进国际间的货币合作与汇率的稳定，鼓励经济发展，促进高度就业，同时提供国际收支的融通。它的创始会员国是39个，截至2002年，这一数字增加到184个。Origins of the IMFThe need for an organization like the IMF became evident during the Great Depression that ravaged the world economy in the 1930s. The Depression was devastating to all forms of economic life. 30年代的那场大危机严重破坏了世界经济，也使得建立像国际货币基金这样一个组织的必要性变得十分明显。The devastation was not merely confined to the visible economy. It was no less destructive of the invisible world of international finance and monetary exchange. A widespread lack of confidence in paper money led to an excessive demand for gold beyond what national treasuries could supply. 这次大危机的破坏并非仅限于实体经济，它对国际金融和货币兑换这些无形的体系也带来了同等程度的破坏。人们对纸币普遍缺乏信心，这导致对黄金的过度需求，而这一需求又是超出国家财政的供给能力的。A number of nations, led by the United Kingdom, were subsequently forced to abandon the gold standard, which, by defining the value of each currency in terms of a given amount of gold, had for years given money a known and stable value. Because of uncertainty about the value of money that no longer bore a fixed relation to gold, exchanging money became very difficult between those nations that remained on the gold standard and those that did not. Nations hoarded gold and money that could be converted into gold, further contracting the amount and frequency of monetary transactions between nations, eliminating jobs, and lowering living standards. Furthermore, some governments severely restricted the exchange of domestic for foreign money and even resorted to barter schemes that wo