Tokyo boosts IMF firepower by $60bn

　　Japan is to provide $60bn to the International Monetary Fund’s effort to expand its resources, pledging to lead the global effort to prevent Europe’s sovereign debt crisis from weighing on economies around the world.

　　日本将为国际货币基金组织(IMF)的增资努力贡献600亿美元，承诺将引领这项全球努力，防止欧洲的主权债务危机拖累世界经济。

　　The decision was warmly greeted in Berlin, where officials say the German government is hoping for members of the G20 group of leading industrial countries to agree to top up IMF resources with at least $400bn in new money this week.

　　德国政府对此决定表示热烈欢迎。德国官员表示，希望20国集团(G20)领先经济体本周达成一致，向IMF贡献至少4000亿美元的新资金。

　　European countries have already promised to provide $150bn from the eurozone and $50bn from the non-eurozone members of the European Union, including the UK, although London has yet to give a clear indication of its likely contribution. The Japanese decision will raise the pressure on the UK to be generous.

　　欧盟国家已承诺，欧元区国家将贡献1500亿美元，非欧元区国家（包括英国，不过英国政府还未就具体数字做出明确表态）将贡献500亿美元。日本的决定将加大英国面临的压力，要求该国慷慨解囊。

　　Denmark, Norway and Sweden confirmed yesterday they would provide an extra $26bn to the IMF.

　　丹麦、挪威和瑞典昨日确认，它们将额外向IMF贡献260亿美元。

　　Germany had expected both China and Japan to pledge an additional $50bn each to IMF resources, so Tokyo’s decision amounts to a pleasant surprise.

　　德国原本预计中国和日本将分别承诺向IMF贡献500亿美元，因此日本的决定不啻为惊喜。

　　Jun Azumi, Japanese finance minister, announced the commitment yesterday, ahead of the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in Washington this week, which is followed by semi-annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank.

　　日本财务大臣安住淳(Jun Azumi)昨日宣布了该承诺。20国集团本周将在华盛顿举行财长会议，之后将是IMF和世界银行(World Bank)的半年度会议。

　　While Europe’s crisis has eased from last year’s “critical situation”, Mr Azumi said boosting the IMF’s resources “is crucial if we are to ensure that the crisis is completely over”.

　　尽管欧债危机已从去年那种“危急情况”有所减轻，但安住淳表示，增加IMF的资源“对于确保危机完全结束至关重要”。

　　Continuing turmoil in the eurozone has hurt Japanese exports by damping global demand and driving the yen higher.

　　欧元区动荡局面的继续，已削弱了全球需求、推高了日元，从而损害了日本的出口。

　　Japan is the first non-European nation to commit money to the IMF effort. But Mr Azumi said Tokyo’s contribution, which would come in the form of loans from the country’s $1.2tn of foreign exchange reserves, should encourage other non-European IMF members such as China, Brazil and Russia to follow suit.

　　日本是第一个承诺向IMF的增资努力作出贡献的非欧盟国家。但安住淳表示，日本的贡献应促使IMF其他非欧盟成员国（比如中国、巴西和俄罗斯）效仿。日本的贡献将以来自该国1.2万亿美元外汇储备的贷款为形式。