2022年12月11日 VOA慢速英語：黎巴嫩的新窮人面臨長期的經(jīng)濟不安全感

 

Lebanon is a former middle-income country, one that is neither rich nor poor. But its financial system collapsed in 2019.
黎巴嫩曾經(jīng)是一個中等收入國家，既不富裕也不貧窮。但其金融體系在 2019 年崩潰。
 
The collapse led to a great drop in the value of the Lebanese pound. And the United Nations says that event has led four out of five Lebanese people to become poor.
崩潰導致黎巴嫩鎊大幅貶值。聯(lián)合國表示，該事件已導致五分之四的黎巴嫩人陷入貧困。
 
State services have broken down. Financial support to reduce the costs of goods has been removed. And tens of thousands of Lebanese have left the country seeking jobs in other countries. It is the biggest emigration wave since the 1975-1990 civil war.
國家服務已經(jīng)崩潰。取消了降低商品成本的財政支持。數(shù)以萬計的黎巴嫩人離開該國到其他國家尋找工作。這是自 1975-1990 年內(nèi)戰(zhàn)以來最大的移民潮。
 
Lebanese political leaders admitted that the crisis was the result of many years of wasteful spending and corruption. And the World Bank called the crisis a "deliberate depression" created by those with political and financial power.
黎巴嫩政治領導人承認，這場危機是多年浪費開支和腐敗的結果。世界銀行稱這場危機是那些擁有政治和金融權力的人制造的“蓄意蕭條”。
 
Now, economists say it will deepen if politicians delay passing reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund (or IMF) in April. The passing of these reforms is required to unlock billions of dollars in aid.
現(xiàn)在，經(jīng)濟學家表示，如果政客們推遲通過與國際貨幣基金組織（或 IMF）商定的改革，危機將會加深） 在四月份。要獲得數(shù)十億美元的援助，必須通過這些改革。
 
However, public pressure for reform has largely passed. The pressure was at its highest during the 2019 protests and after the August 2020 Beirut explosion. The political parties that have ruled for much of recent history still won the greatest number of seats in May's parliamentary elections.
然而，公眾要求改革的壓力已基本過去。在 2019 年抗議活動期間和 2020 年 8 月貝魯特爆炸之后，壓力達到最高。在近代歷史的大部分時間里執(zhí)政的政黨仍然在 5 月的議會選舉中贏得了最多的席位。
 
Mohammad Chamseddine is a policy expert at Beirut-based Information International. He said, "The Lebanese people accept and become used to all the economic, political and security conditions."
Mohammad Chamseddine 是位于貝魯特的 Information International 的政策專家。他說，“黎巴嫩人民接受并習慣了所有的經(jīng)濟、政治和安全條件。”
He noted that many now live on aid and the few hundred dollars their relatives working in other countries send back home each month, called remittances. The flow has increased as some 200,000 people have emigrated since 2019, he said.
他指出，許多人現(xiàn)在靠援助和他們在其他國家工作的親戚寄來的幾百美元生活每個月回老家，叫匯款。他說，自 2019 年以來，約有 20 萬人移居國外，人口流動有所增加。
 
Meanwhile, basic state functions are increasingly supported by international aid sent to prevent total state failure. The World Food Program alone supports a third of the country's 6 million people with food and money aid. Hospitals, schooling, and even security services are increasingly financially supported by international aid.
與此同時，國際援助越來越多地支持基本的國家職能，以防止國家全面失敗。僅世界糧食計劃署就為該國 600 萬人口中的三分之一提供糧食和資金援助。醫(yī)院、學校甚至安全服務越來越多地得到國際援助的財政支持。
 
The economy has become a two-tier system. Those with money are known as the "fresh dollar class." They eat at restaurants or send their children to the best schools. And those who earn in the local Lebanese pound only have enough for simple needs.
經(jīng)濟已成為一個兩層系統(tǒng)。那些有錢的人被稱為“新鮮美元階層”。他們在餐館吃飯或把孩子送到最好的學校。而那些靠當?shù)乩璋湍坻^掙錢的人只能滿足簡單的需求。
 
One such Lebanese is Hussein Hamadeh. The 51-year-old is unemployed and unable to support his family of four. His two daughters studied in the light that came through a window at their unlit one-bedroom home.
侯賽因·哈馬德就是這樣一位黎巴嫩人。這位 51 歲的老人失業(yè)了，無法養(yǎng)活一家四口。他的兩個女兒在他們沒有照明的單臥室住宅的窗戶里學習。
 
Hamadeh said, "I have a very pessimistic view of the future. I take each day as it comes, there is no future for me."
Hamadeh 說：“我對未來持非常悲觀的看法。我接受每一天，我沒有未來。”
 
A study by Gallup released last December found that some 63 percent of Lebanese said they would leave the country if they could.
蓋洛普去年 12 月發(fā)布的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，大約 63% 的黎巴嫩人表示，如果可以的話，他們會離開這個國家。