世行行长警告：疫情或令1亿人重返极端贫困

世界银行行长戴维·马尔帕斯日前警告说，新冠疫情可能导致1亿人重新陷入极端贫困。马尔帕斯说，如果新冠疫情持续恶化，“这个数字可能会更高”

People wear protective masks as they wait in line at a testing site for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) set up for returning students, faculty and staff on the main campus of New York University (NYU) in Manhattan in New York City, New York, US, August 18, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

The coronavirus pandemic may have driven as many as 100 million people back into extreme poverty, World Bank President David Malpass warned Thursday.

世界银行行长戴维·马尔帕斯8月20日警告说，新冠疫情或令1亿人重新陷入极端贫困。

The Washington-based development lender previously estimated that 60 million people would fall into extreme poverty due to COVID-19, but the new estimate puts the deterioration at 70 to 100 million, and he said “that number could go higher” if the pandemic worsens or drags on.

根据世界银行此前的估计，将有6000万人因为新冠疫情陷入极端贫困，但最新的评估将这一数字升高到7000万至1亿人。马尔帕斯说，如果疫情恶化或持续下去，“这个数字可能会更高”。世界银行的总部设在华盛顿。

The situation makes it “imperative” that creditors reduce the amount of debt held by poor countries at risk, going beyond the commitment to suspend debt payments, Malpass said in an interview with AFP.

马尔帕斯在接受法新社记者采访时说，这种形势使债权人“必须”减少身陷风险之中的穷国的债务，而不仅仅是承诺推迟偿债。

Even so, more countries will be obliged to restructure their debt.

即便如此，更多的国家将不得不重组其债务。

“The debt vulnerabilities are high, and the imperative of getting light at the end of the tunnel so that new investors can come in is substantial,” Malpass said.

马尔帕斯说：“债务脆弱性很高，必须让人们看到希望的曙光，以吸引新的投资者加入。”

Advanced economies in the Group of 20 already have committed to suspending debt payments from the poorest nations through the end of the year, and there is growing support for extending that moratorium into next year amid a pandemic that’s killed nearly 800,000 people and sickened more than 25 million worldwide.

二十国集团中的发达经济体已承诺，同意最贫穷国家暂停偿还债务至年底。目前全球新冠疫情已导致近80万人死亡，2500多万人患病，因此将暂停偿还债务政策的有效期延长至明年的呼声越来越高。

moratorium [ˌmɒrəˈtɔːriəm]：n.暂停，中止

A health worker teaches children how to wash their hands during a door-to-door testing in an attempt to contain the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Umlazi township near Durban, South Africa, April 4, 2020. [Photo/Agencies]

But Malpass said that will not be enough, since the economic downturn means those countries, which already are struggling to provide a safety net for their citizens, will not be in a better position to deal with the payments.

但马尔帕斯说，这还不够。因为经济衰退意味着，那些在为民众提供社会保障方面已经几近力不从心的国家，在偿债方面也同样陷入困境。

The amount of debt reduction needed will depend on the situation in each country, he said, but the policy “makes a lot of sense.”

马尔帕斯说，需要减少的债务量将基于每个经济体的不同情况，但这项政策“非常有意义”。

“So I think the awareness of this will be gradually, more and more apparent” especially “for the countries with the highest vulnerability to the debt situation.”

“因此，我认为人们会逐渐意识到这一点，这会越来越明显，尤其是那些最容易受到债务危机影响的国家。”

The World Bank has committed to deploying $160 billion in funding to 100 countries through June 2021 in an effort to address the immediate emergency, and about $21 billion had been released through the end of June.

世界银行承诺，到2021年6月为止，将向100个国家提供1600亿美元 But even so, extreme poverty, defined as earning less than $1.90 a day, continues to rise.

但即便如此，极端贫困人口仍在增加。极端贫困的定义是每日收入低于1.9美元。

Malpass said the deterioration is due to a combination of the destruction of jobs during the pandemic as well as supply issues that make access to food more difficult.

马尔帕斯说，情况恶化是由于疫情期间就业岗位减少以及供应问题使人们更难获得食物。

“All of this contributes to pushing people back into extreme poverty the longer the economic crisis persists.”

“这一切将导致经济危机持续时间越长，就有越多的人重新陷入极端贫困。”

Newly-installed World Bank Chief Economist Carmen Reinhart has called the economic crisis a “pandemic depression,” but Malpass was less concerned with terminology.

新任世界银行首席经济学家卡门·赖因哈特将这场经济危机称为“疫情大萧条”，但马尔帕斯并不那么在意术语说法。

“We can start calling it a depression. Our focus is on how do we help countries be resilient in working out on the other side.”

他说：“我们可以开始称之为萧条。我们的重点在于在另一方面，如何帮助各国恢复发展。”

Having a clear view of the size of each country’s debt and the collateral involved also are key to being able to help the debtor nations, Malpass said.

马尔帕斯说，清楚地了解每个国家的债务规模和涉及的担保品也是帮助债务国的关键。

collateral[kəˈlætərəl]：抵押品，担保品

Governments in advanced economies so far have been “generous” in their support of developing nations, even while they take on heavy spending programs in their own countries, Malpass said.

马尔帕斯说，到目前为止，发达经济体的政府在支持发展中国家方面一直“慷慨”施以援手，即使发达经济体自身也要实施大规模支出计划。

“But the bigger problem is that their economies are weak,” Malpass said of the wealthy nations.

马尔帕斯在谈到发达经济体时说：“但更大的问题是，这些国家的经济也很疲弱。”

“The most important thing the advanced economies do for the developing countries is supply markets… start growing, and start reopening markets.”

“发达经济体为发展中国家做的最重要的事情是供应市场开始增长，并开始重新开放市场。”