委内瑞拉通胀危机：商店收款不是点钞而是称重

委内瑞拉的通胀率预计将达到720%，政府疯狂印钞加速了货币贬值的速度，国内商店结账收款不再是点钞而是给钞票称重。首都加拉加斯的生意人布雷默•罗德里格斯无奈地自嘲道：“我感觉自己就像毒贩子巴勃罗•埃斯科巴，每天钱堆得跟山一样，越来越多。”

Inflation in Venezuela is expected to reach 720 percent this year, with the largest bolívar bill now worth just five US cents on the black market.

委内瑞拉的通货膨胀今年预计将达到720%，在黑市上，最大面值的玻利瓦尔币现在仅值5美分。

Some shopkeepers have reportedly taken to weighing rather than counting the wads of cash customers hand them, and standard-size wallets have become all but useless in the socialist South American state. Instead, many people stuff huge volumes of cash into handbags, money belts, or backpacks, in scenes analysts have said are suggestive of "runaway" inflation.

据报道，如今正常尺寸的钱包在这个南美社会主义国家已经彻底派不上用场了，顾客付款时店主不会点钞，而是给大把大把的现金称重。许多人将大量钞票塞满手袋、腰包或背包。分析人士指出，这种情形是通货膨胀“失控”的征兆。

In 2017, plummeting global oil prices decimated Venezuela's economy. President Nicolás Maduro responded by fixing the official exchange rate and ordering banks to print more cash, which ultimately devalued the currency further, while goods prices soared.

2017年，全球石油价格暴跌使委内瑞拉经济遭受重创。该国总统尼古拉斯•马杜罗为此固定官方汇率，命令银行印制更多钞票，而这些应对措施最终导致货币进一步贬值，商品价格飙升。

The country of 30 million does not publish consumer-price data on a regular basis, but observers have said scenes on the streets of the capital, Caracas, are reminiscent of the past century's most chaotic cases of hyperinflation.

拥有3000万人口的委内瑞拉并未定期公布消费者价格指数，但是目击者称，该国首都加拉斯加街头的场景让人联想到上世纪最混乱的恶性通胀危机。

Humberto Gonzalez, who runs a delicatessen in the city, said he uses the same scales to weigh slices of salty white cheese and the stacks of bolívar notes handed over by his customers.

温贝托•冈萨雷斯在加拉斯加经营一家熟食店，他说自己用称咸味儿白奶酪的称去计算顾客给他的成堆的玻利瓦尔币。

"It’s sad," Mr Gonzalez told Bloomberg. "At this point, I think the cheese is worth more."

“可悲的是，我认为奶酪更值钱，” 冈萨雷斯对彭博社表示。

Jesus Casique, a consulting firm director, told the news site that although weighing cash was not ubiquitious, it was indicative of a financial crisis.

杰西•克拉斯科是一家咨询公司的主管，他对彭博社表示，虽然给现金称重的景象并非随处可见，但这也是金融危机的预兆。

"When they start weighing cash, it’s a sign of runaway inflation," he said. "But Venezuelans don’t know just how bad it is because the government refuses to publish figures."

他说，“人们开始给现金称重，就是通货膨胀失控的标志，但委内瑞拉人不知道情况有多糟，因为政府拒绝公布通胀数据。”

Oil makes up a staggering 95 percent of Venezuela's exports, and accounts for a quarter of the country's economy, with oil-related revenues having historically supplied roughly half the government budget. This kind of over-reliance on a single export notoriously depresses all other industries in a country, in a phenomenon known by economists as "Dutch Disease".

石油出口在委内瑞拉的出口总额中占比高达95%，占该国经济总额的1/4。数据显示，委内瑞拉约一半的财政预算来源于与石油有关的税收。众所周知，这种过分依赖单一产品出口的经济模式会遏制该国其他行业的发展，经济学家将这种现象称为“荷兰病”。

When the price of oil on the global market collapsed by two-thirds in 2017, Venezuela had little else to fall back on, so a natural reaction would have been for the bolívar to collapse. But Mr Maduro, who succeeded Hugo Chávez following the revolutionary leader's death in 2013, instead tried to control the exchange rate, creating a massive black market for currency.

2017年，全球市场石油价格暴跌2/3，这让委内瑞拉的经济失去了依靠，玻利瓦尔币自然会因此贬值。但革命领袖雨果•查维斯2013年去世后，接任总统的马杜罗没有采取控制货币汇率的措施，反而成就了一个巨大的货币黑市。

Figuring out scams to get dollars and then sell them for bolívars became hugely lucrative business for Venezuelans, setting off a feedback loop that drove the inflation rate higher and higher.

对于委内瑞拉人来说，设局套取美金，然后将其兑换成玻利瓦尔币成了非常有利可图的生意。这个恶性循环让通货膨胀率越来越高。

In one of Caracas richer neighbourhoods, the owner of a tiny kiosk selling newspapers, cigarettes and snacks told the Washington Post that every evening he quietly stuffs a plastic bag full of the day’s earnings, around 100,000 bolívars (about £42) in notes of 10, 20, 50 and 100 bolívars. Venezuela has one of the highest crime rates in the world, and he said carrying that much cash frightens him.

在首都加拉加斯一处富人区有一家贩卖报纸、香烟和零食的报亭，报亭老板告诉《华盛顿邮报》，每晚他都要把一天的收入悄悄塞进一个塑料袋，每天收入约为10万玻利瓦尔币（约42英镑），货币面值为10、20、50和100玻利瓦尔。今年42岁的报亭老板表示，委内瑞拉是全球犯罪率最高的国家之一，带着这么多现金让他很害怕。

"All of Caracas is unsafe," the 42-year-old told the newspaper, opting not to give his name.

这位不愿透露姓名的男子告诉记者，“整个加拉加斯都不安全。”

His best-selling item is cigarettes, he said, which have climbed in price from 250 bolívars to 2,000 bolívars a pack — at least 20 bills.

他说，销量最好的是香烟，其售价已经从250玻利瓦尔币涨到2000玻利瓦尔币一包——这至少要二十张钞票。

The shrinking value of the currency has meant that withdrawing the equivalent of £5 from an ATM produces a fistful of more than 100 bills. Some ATMs now need to be refilled every three hours, because the machines can only hold so much cash. This means there are often a limited number of functioning ATMs in Caracas, and long queues to withdraw money.

货币缩水意味着从自动取款机取出100多张钞票才相当于5英镑。由于自动取款机装不下太多现金，有些机器现在每3小时就要续款。这意味着加拉加斯经常只有少数自动取款机正常工作，而为了取钱人们总是排着长队。

"Electronic payment is increasingly common in the country," Henkel Garcia, director of the Venezuelan economic think tank Econométrica, told the Washington Post. "The use of online payments is likely to have soared," he said.

委内瑞拉经济智库Econométrica的负责人汉高•加西亚对《华盛顿邮报》表示，“电子支付在委内瑞拉越来越普遍，在线支付的使用量很可能飙升。”

But it is expensive for small businesses to buy and set up credit-card machines.

但是对于小企业来说，购买和安装信用卡机器的开销太大。

Mr Maduro, who has largely continued the socialist policies of his predecessor, blamed the situation on an "economic war" waged by his opponents in the business community and in the United States. But, in a sign his government recognises the severity of the problem, he recently announced the issue of larger-denomination bills, expected in January.

马杜罗在很大程度上延续了其前任的社会主义政策，他将如今的状况归咎于美国和其商界对手发动的“经济战”。但他近日宣布预计于明年1月发行更大面额的货币。这一迹象表明马杜罗政府已经认识到问题的严重性。

The notes are reportedly set to start at 500 bolivars and reach 20,000 bolivars.

据报道，新货币的面值在500到20000玻利瓦尔币之间。

Until the notes are issued, however, the Venezuelan people are poorer than ever, while the country is awash with cash.

等到货币发行后，委内瑞拉便拥有足够现金，但该国人民只会更加贫穷。

Bremmer Rodrigues, who runs a bakery on the outskirts of Caracas, said his family are at a loss over what to do with their bags of bills. Every day his business takes in hundreds of thousands of bolívar, he said, which he hides around his office until packing them up in boxes to deposit at the bank. He said if someone looked in on him, he might be mistaken for a drug dealer.

布雷默•罗德里格斯在加拉加斯郊区经营着一家面包店，他表示，成包的钞票让他们一家感到无所适从。罗德里格斯每天的生意收入有数十万玻利瓦尔币，他先把这些钱藏在办公室附近，之后再打包装箱存入银行。罗德里格斯说，如果有人看见他，可能会误以为他是毒品贩子。

"I feel like Pablo Escobar," the 25-year-old told Bloomberg. "It’s a mountain of cash, every day more and more."

他告诉彭博社，“我感觉自己就像巴勃罗•埃斯科巴（注：哥伦比亚毒枭），钱堆得跟山一样，每天越来越多。”

Vocabulary

hyperinflation: 恶性通货膨胀

reminiscent: 使人联想……的