Central banks around the world must raise interest rates soon to bring inflation under control, international regulators have warned. The Bank for International Settlements(BIS)— the central bank for central bankers—said, in its annual report published on Sunday, that the era of loose monetary policy must end. “Tighter global monetary policy is needed in order to contain inflation pressures and ward off financial stability risks,” the BIS said, adding that rates may need to be raised more rapidly than after previous recessions.

It levied particular criticism at the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee (MPC), which has maintained UK interest rates at their current record low of 0.5% since March 2009. “In the United Kingdom, CPI inflation had exceeded the Bank of England’s 2% target since December 2009, reaching a peak of 4.5% in April 2011. As yet, there has been no move by the MPC, but one wonders how long its current policy can be sustained,” the BIS said.

City economists increasingly believe the MPC will resist raising interest rates during 2011. The BIS acknowledged that “policymakers and households have virtually no room for manoeuvre” because of the unsustainably high levels of debts run up by both countries and individuals. However, it continued: “All financial crises, especially those generated by a credit-fuelled property price boom, leave long-lasting wreckage. The sooner that advanced economies abandon the leverage-led growth that speeded up the Great Recession, the sooner they will shed the destabilising debt accumulated during the last decade and return to sustainable growth.” The BIS is also clear that overly indebted countries in the eurozone need to tackle their problems. It believes the boom also masked serious fiscal vulnerabilities that, if left unchecked, could trigger the next crisis.

International banking regulators, also agreed that the biggest banks in the world should be forced to hold more capital than those less likely to send a shock wave through the financial system in the event of their failure. Those banks which are potentially too big to fail will be required to have a core tier one ratio—a measure of their assets against the risks they run—of 9.5% compared with the 7% minimum for systemically less important banks.

The floor of 9.5% was announced by international banking regulators. If the biggest banks get even larger, then they may be forced to raise their capital cushions to 10.5%. Financial institutions have already begun to accumulate capital since the banking crisis, when banks were running on wafer-thin capital ratios of 2%. For instance, Bob Diamond, chief executive of Barclays, recently set out a strategy for the bank on the basis that it would be able to operate on a 10% capital cushion.

【词汇突破】 (标有*号的词汇为超纲词)

inflation /In5fleIFn/ n. 通货膨胀： curb inflation遏制通货膨胀

under control (危险、紧急情况等)被控制住： It took two hours to bring the blaze under control. 控制火势花了两个小时。

contain /kEn5teIn/ v. 控制;克制：She could hardly contain her excitement. 她抑制不住内心的激动。

ward off 尽力避免;避开： ward off head colds避免伤风

recession /rI5seFn/ n. 衰退; 不景气： an industrial recession 工业衰退

levy /5levi/ v. 强加某事物：levy a responsibility on someone 将责任强加于某人身上

as yet 到现在为止(尚未)： We’ve had no word from him as yet. 我们到现在为止也没有得到他的任何消息。

room for manoeuvre改变事态的机会;回旋余地：Small businesses have limited room for manoeuvre. 小企业的经营回旋余地有限。

run up积欠;累积： How had he run up so many debts? 他怎么欠了这么多债?

wreckage /5rekIdV/ n. 破灭;破坏： the wreckage of his political career他被毁掉的政治生涯

*leverage /5levErIdV/ v. 举债经营

shed /Fed/ v. 去掉(某物); 除掉： shedding one’s clothes on a hot day 天热时脱掉衣服

destabilising debt 不稳定的债务

overly /5EUvElI/ adv. 过度地： overly cautious过于谨慎

fiscal vulnerability 财政漏洞

trigger /5trIgE(r)/ v. 引发： trigger bitter bureaucratic debates引发激烈的官僚政治争论

in the event of如果……发生： In the event of his death Sheila will inherit the money. 一旦他故去， 希拉就会继承这笔钱。

core tier one ratio 核心一级资本比率

*systemically /sI5stemIkli/ adv. 影响全部地

cushion /5kUFn/ n. 缓冲： extra funds serving as a cushion against future inflation作为抵御未来通货膨胀而进行缓冲的额外资金

wafer-thin极薄的： plates of wafer-thin metal薄金属碟子

set sth out (有条理地)陈述， 阐明： He set out his objections to the plan.他陈述了他对这个计划的反对意见。

【句式分析】

本句的主干结构为Those banks... will be required to have a core tier one ratio...，其中，which are... to fail为定语从句，修饰主语those banks， 谓语will be required为被动语态，其后动词不定式结构to have a core tier one ratio至句末作主语补足语，破折号之间的a measure... they run是插入语，用来解释核心一级资本比率这个概念，of 9.5%为a core tier one ratio的后置定语，其后，compared with... important banks作状语。

【全文翻译】

国际银行监管机构发出警告称，世界各国的中央银行必须尽快提高利率以抑制通货膨胀。服务于各国央行行长的中央银行——国际清算银行(BIS)在周日发表的年度报告中指出，实行宽松货币政策的时代必须结束了。国际清算银行说道，“现在需要实行更加紧缩的全球货币政策，以遏制通胀压力并规避金融稳定的风险。” 它同时指出，目前的利率水平应尽快提高，利率增长的速度应快于以往经济萧条后的利率增长速度。

英格兰银行的货币政策委员会(MPC)遭到了国际清算银行的特别批评，自2009年3月以来，该委员会一直将英国的利率保持在目前0.5%的历史最低纪录。国际清算银行指出：“在英国，自2009年12月以来，消费物价指数的涨幅已经超过了英格兰银行2%的预期指标，于2011年4月达到4.5%的最高值。到目前为止，货币政策委员会仍没有采取任何行动，人们不禁要问，其现行的政策还能维持多久。”

城市经济学家越来越认为，英格兰银行货币政策委员会在2011年不会提高利率。国际清算银行承认，由于国家和个人积欠了难以偿还的高额债务，“决策者和普通家庭实际上没有回旋的余地”。然而，国际清算银行又指出：“所有的金融危机，特别是那些由信贷拉动房价上涨而导致的金融危机，会留下长久的毁灭性的影响。发达的经济体越快放弃靠举债经营来刺激经济增长(这种经济增长方式会加速‘大萧条’)，就将越快摆脱过去十年里积累的导致国家不稳定的债务，并重新实现经济的可持续增长。”国际清算银行明确表示，欧元区债务危机严重的国家需要解决自身问题。它也认为，房价的高涨还掩盖了严重的财政漏洞，如果置之不理，可能引发下一轮的经济危机。

国际银行监管机构还一致认为，比起那些即使破产，也不太可能对金融系统造成冲击的银行而言，世界特大型银行应被强制持有更多的资金。那些因实力太过雄厚而不会倒闭的银行需要将其核心资本比率(银行资本与风险的比率)保持在9.5%，相比较而言，系统中不太重要的银行，其核心资本比率最低维持在7%即可。

国际银行监管机构公布了9.5%的底线。如果特大型银行的规模进一步扩大，那么可能会要求它们把资本缓冲资金提高到10.5%。自银行业遭遇金融危机以来，银行按2%的微薄资本比率运行，而这时金融机构已经开始积累资金了。例如，巴克莱银行首席执行官鲍勃·戴蒙德最近宣布了一项政策，以保证银行可以在10%的资本缓冲资金基础上运营。