普京警告俄国可能面临两年经济衰退
A defiant Vladimir Putin said Russia should brace itself for two years of recession, as he blamed the country’s economic woes on a western plot to defang the Russian bear.
The president was speaking at a three-hour press conference that saw him address this week’s market turMoil in public for the first time.
俄罗斯总统普京举行了三个小时的记者会，会上他首次公开发表了对本周市场动荡的看法。He claimed that a period of economic hardship was the price Russia would have to pay to maintain its independence in the face of western aggression, repeatedly blaming the rouble’s plunge and a looming recession on “external factors”.
普京称，面对西方的进逼，一段经济困难时期是俄罗斯为了维护国家独立而不得不付出的代价。他一再将卢布暴跌和正在逼近的经济衰退归咎于“外部因素”。
In a metaphor that summed up his entire performance, he compared Russia to a bear that the west was trying to weaken by stripping it of its nuclear weapons and taking its natural resources.
他的整个讲话可以用一个比喻概括，他将俄罗斯比作一头熊，而西方正企图通过剥夺它的核武威力和获取它的自然资源来削弱它。“They will always try to put it on a chain,” he said. “As soon as they succeed in doing so they will tear out its fangs and claws.” That, he said, would leave it nothing but a “stuffed animal”.
他说：“他们总是企图用链子拴住它。一旦他们成功了，他们将拔掉它的尖牙利爪。”他说，那将使这头熊沦为一只“毛绒动物”。Mr Putin was speaking after a week of high drama in Moscow, as the rouble slid 16 per cent against the dollar in the space of two days, evoking memories of the disastrous 1998 financial crisis when Russia defaulted on its domestic debt.
普京发表此次讲话前，本周莫斯科上演了一场大戏，卢布兑美元汇率在两天里暴跌16%，唤起了人们对灾难性的1998年金融危机的回忆，当时俄罗斯在国内债务上违约。The currency, which is now about 45 per cent lower since the start of the year, has been dragged down by plunging oil prices and western sanctions imposed over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and its intervention in eastern Ukraine.
受油价暴跌和西方制裁的拖累，卢布现在比年初时低了大约45%。由于俄罗斯吞并克里米亚及干涉乌克兰东部，西方正在对俄罗斯实施制裁。The central bank’s shock 6.5 percentage point increase in interest rates to 17 per cent on Tuesday night failed to tame markets. The bank forecasts that Russia’s economy could shrink by almost 5 per cent next year if oil prices stay at about $60 a barrel.
俄罗斯央行在周二晚令人震惊地升息6.5百分点，至17%，但没能安抚市场。俄央行预测，如果油价徘徊在每桶60美元左右，俄罗斯经济明年可能萎缩近5%。As Mr Putin spoke, the ripple effects of the rouble’s volatility on the Russian economy became clearer, with interbank rates jumping to their highest level in nine years and foreign manufacturers freezing sales in Russia.
普京讲话之际，卢布波动对俄罗斯经济造成的涟漪效应变得更加清晰，银行同业拆借利率飙升至九年来最高水平，国外制造商冻结了在俄的销售。But Mr Putin appeared in control and relaxed. He did, however, face more hard-hitting questioning from the usually loyal crowd, particularly on the economy.
但普京表现出一切尽在掌控和放松的样子。然而，通常忠实的观众向他发出了更尖锐的质问，特别是在经济问题上。Grilled on the actions of the central bank, Mr Putin gave qualified support to its governor, Elvira Nabiullina, who has been criticised by some Russian banks and companies for not doing more to stem the rouble’s fall earlier this year. He stressed that the government also bore responsibility for the currency’s slide, fuelling rumours over the future of prime minister Dmitry Medvedev or of a shake-up in the cabinet.
面对有关俄罗斯央行行动的严厉追问，普京对央行行长埃尔薇拉•纳比乌里娜(Elvira Nabiullina)给予了有限支持，一些俄罗斯银行和公司批评她没有在今年早些时候采取更多行动阻止卢布下跌。普京强调，政府也要为卢布下跌负责，这助长了关于俄罗斯总理德米特里•梅德韦杰夫(Dmitry Medvedev)的前途、以及内阁重组的谣言。The president denied that Russia would impose capital controls, instead promising to offer more help to the corporate sector and “provide them not only with foreign currency but rouble liquidity”.
普京否认俄罗斯将实行资本管制，他承诺向企业界提供更多帮助，“不仅为他们提供外国货币，还要提供卢布流动性。”
