VOA慢速英语:A Credit Downgrade for Japan, but Some Signs of Hope

This week, Moody’s Investors Service lowered its credit rating for Japanese government debt. The credit rating agency downgraded Japan one step from Aa2 to Aa3.
本周，穆迪投资者服务公司下调了日本政府的债务信用评级。该信用评级机构将日本从Aa2下调一级为Aa3。

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Finance Minster Yoshihiko Noda said trust in the economy "will not be shaken" by Wednesday's action.
日本财务大臣Yoshihiko Nod称，对经济方面的信任不会因为周三的下调而动摇。

Moody’s said it acted because of Japan’s large budget deficits and buildup in government debt since the two thousand nine global recession. Japan's public debt is twice the size of its economy. Japan has the world’s third-largest economy.
穆迪表示，此举是因为自2009年全球经济衰退以来，庞大的预算赤字和不断增加的政府债务。日本的公共债务是其经济规模的两倍。日本是全球第三大经济体。

Moody’s said another reason was Japan’s political situation. Japan has had five prime ministers since two thousand six. The current prime minister, Naoto Kan, is expected to resign soon.
穆迪表示，另一个原因是日本的政治局势。自2006年以，日本已经换了5个首相。现任首相菅直人预计不久将辞职。

Japan struggled more than many other countries after the worldwide financial crisis. This month, Japan said its economy shrank at an annual rate of 1.3 percent from April through June. It was the third quarter of shrinkage in a row.
在全球金融危机之后，日本比其他许多国家更艰难。本月，日本称其4月到6月的经济年化收缩了1.3%，这是连续第三个季度收缩了。

The earthquake and tsunami in March hurt manufacturing. Shortages of parts led to a big drop in sales and profit for Toyota, the world's top selling carmaker.
制造业在三月份发生的地震和海啸的中受到损害。零部件短缺导致全球最畅销汽车制造商丰田公司的销售额和利润大幅下降。

Yet the report on the economy was good news. Economists had expected a bigger decrease following the disasters and the nuclear crisis that followed.
然而，经济报告却带来了好消息。经济学家此前预计，灾难和核危机之后会出现更大的下降。

But there is concern that a rise in the yen could hurt growth. A high exchange value makes Japanese exports costlier and less competitive. This week, Japan announced a program of one hundred billion dollars in loans to support business spending. The goal is to help weaken the yen and lift economic growth.
但有人担心，在日元的升值可能损害经济增长。高汇率会使日本出的口产品价格昂贵，竞争力减弱。这个星期，日本宣布了一个千亿美元的贷款计划以支持商业支出，目的是帮助削弱日元和提高经济增长。

Bond traders said Moody's downgrade of Japan was not a surprise. The action had the expected effect of raising borrowing costs for the Japanese government. Still, at about one percent, Japan enjoys the lowest borrowing costs of any major developed nation.
债券交易员表示，穆迪下调日本评级并会令人惊讶。该举动有提高日本政府借贷成本的预期效果。尽管如此，日本在任何主要发达国家中仍享有最低的借贷成本，在1%左右。

Earlier this month, another credit rating agency downgraded United States government debt for the first time. Standard and Poor's blamed the political fight over the nation's debt.
本月初，另一信用评级机构首次下调了美国国债信用评级。标准普尔指责美国国债问题上的政治斗争。

Foreigners hold much of the public debt of the United States and some other countries. But ninety-five percent of Japan's debt securities are held by Japanese, mostly banks and retirement funds.
外国投资者持有美国和其他一家国家大部分的公共债务。但95%的日本的债务由日本人持有，主要是银行和退休基金。

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Kan met with American Vice President Joe Biden. Mr. Biden visited Japan at the end of a trip to Asia.
周二，首相菅直人会见了美国副总统拜登。拜登先生亚洲之旅的最后访问了日本。