英國央行推出金融危機以來最大刺激方案
The Bank of England launched its biggest stimulus package since the financial crisis yesterday and said it stood ready to make further interest rate cuts this year in an attempt to cushion a looming Brexit-induced downturn.
英國央行(Bank of England)昨日推出其自金融危機以來規模最大的刺激方案，並表示準備好在今年進一步降息，以緩衝即將出現的由退歐引發的經濟低迷。
Mark Carney, BoE governor, said there was a “clear case for stimulus, and stimulus now” after a string of business surveys suggested the UK was heading for recession because of the uncertainty following Britain’s vote to leave the EU.
英國央行行長馬克•卡尼(Mark Carney)表示，現在有“明確的理由推出刺激措施，而且馬上推出”，此前一系列商業調查顯示，由於英國退歐公投後的不確定性，英國正滑向經濟衰退。
Mr Carney warned that despite the central bank’s “exceptional package of measures” — which included its first rate cut in more than seven years and a new ￡70bn bond-buying programme — 250,000 people were set to lose their jobs because of the economic shock.
卡尼警告稱，儘管英國央行推出“一系列特別措施”（包括7年多來首次降息以及新的700億英鎊債券購買計劃），但有25萬人將因爲經濟衝擊而失業。
Although the cut in interest rates to a record low of 0.25 per cent from 0.5 had been widely predicted, the restarting of bond purchases and a new ￡100bn funding scheme for banks was more than many in the market expected.
儘管市場普遍預測到英國央行將利率從0.5%降至0.25%的創紀錄低點，但重啓債券購買計劃以及新的1000億英鎊銀行資助方案超出市場很多人的預期。
Sterling fell 1.5 per cent against the dollar to $1.31, while both the blue-chip FTSE 100 and more UK-focused FTSE 250 indices rose 1.5 per cent — driven by outperformance in banking stocks.
英鎊兌美元匯率下跌1.5%，至1英鎊兌1.31美元，藍籌股指數富時100(FTSE 100)以及更關注英國的富時250(FTSE 250)指數均上漲1.5%，這得益於銀行類股的表現超過大盤。
The market reaction belied the gloomy outlook presented by Mr Carney. Even with the new stimulus taken into account, the BoE forecasts include the biggest downgrade to growth for more than 20 years.
市場反應掩蓋了卡尼陳述的黯淡前景。即便考慮到新的刺激措施，英國央行的預測還是包括20多年來最大幅度的增長預測下調。
Currently, the BoE expects the country narrowly to avoid outright recession, forecasting growth of 0.1 per cent in the third quarter of 2016 and stagnation for the six months after that.
目前，英國央行預測，英國經濟將勉強避免真正的衰退，預計2016年第三季度增長0.1%，之後6個月陷入停滯。
