Broadcast: May 21,
2003
Malaysian 1)Stimulus Program Aims to 2)Boost
Economy
Malaysia has unveiled a
stimulus program to help the country's economy recover from Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome.
Malaysian Prime Minister
Mahathir Mohamad went on television Wednesday to announce nearly $2 billion
worth of assistance for the country's 3)drooping economy.
The spending program is to
be partially funded by the government, with Malaysia's Bank Negara and other
finance institutions making up the rest. The package includes 90 measures
touching on virtually all aspects of economic activity.
But its immediate goal, in
Dr. Mahathir's words, "is to get more people to visit Malaysia". The
program provides $263 million in 4)relief for tourism-related businesses. It 5)slashes 6)utility bills and
taxes for hotels, restaurants, and taxis.
More broadly, the plan
reduces 7)mandatory
contributions to pension funds and 8)liberalizes international investment rules to attract
capital.
Dr. Mahathir also
announced a long-expected cut in a key interest rate of half a percentage
point, to 4.5 percent.
The Malaysian government
originally feared that the war in Iraq would hurt the economy. But the war 9)barely affected
Malaysia. Instead, the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, in
Asia proved to be devastating, especially for tourism.
The Malaysian Hotel
Association estimates hotels lost $13 million in the first half of May alone.
Occupancy rates have 10)plunged 25 percent from the year before.
The health damage done by
SARS is less 11)dramatic - Malaysia has reported just eight probable
cases of SARS, and two deaths. The potentially deadly disease has infected
nearly 8,000 people around the world since late last year.
The Malaysian stimulus
package also pays tribute to medical workers confronting SARS. Doctors and
medical workers will receive cash 12)bonuses of up to $100 a month until the outbreak is
over.
Kurt Achin for VOA news,
Hong Kong.
1) stimulus [5stimjulEs] n.促进因素，刺激
2) boost [bu:st] v.推进
3) drooping [5drU:piN] adj.下垂的，无力的
4) relief [ri5li:f] n.救济
5) slash [slAF] v.大量削减
6) utility [ju:5tiliti] n.公用事业
7) mandatory [5mAndEtEri] adj.命令的，强制的
8) liberalize [5libErElaiz] v.放宽限制
9) barely [5bZEli] adv.几乎不能
10) plunge [plQndV] vt.使陷入，使遭受
11) dramatic [drE5mAtik] adj.引人注目的，显著的
12) bonus [5bEunEs] n.奖金，红利
播报时间：2003年5月21日
马来西亚的刺激计划旨在推动经济发展
马来西亚公布了一项旨在帮助该国经济摆脱严重急性呼吸道综合症影响的刺激计划。
星期三，马来西亚总理马哈蒂尔穆罕默德在电视上宣布，将为该国下滑的经济提供价值将近20亿美元的援助。
这项支出计划的资金，一部分由政府负责，剩余部分由马来西亚国家银行和其他金融机构共同支付。这个一揽子计划包括90项实质触及经济活动各方面的措施。
但它的当前目标，用马哈蒂尔博士的话来说，“是使更多人到马来西亚来进行访问”。该计划将为与旅游相关的产业提供2.63亿美元的救助资金。它还将大幅削减公用事业使用费和酒店、饭店和出租车的税款。
该计划的涉及范围更加广泛，它还降低了强制缴纳的养老基金费用并放宽了国际投资规定以吸纳资本。
马哈蒂尔博士还宣布，将对一项重要利率进行期盼已久的调整，下调0.5个百分点、达到4.5%的水平。
马来西亚政府原本担心，伊拉克战争可能会对经济产生不利影响。但那场战争对马来西亚几乎没有什么影响。相反，事实证明，倒是严重急性呼吸道综合症（简称SARS）在亚洲的传播具有毁灭性危害，尤其是对旅游业而言。
马来西亚酒店业协会估计，酒店仅在五月份的上半月就损失了1300万美元。入住率比上一年下跌了25%。
由严重急性呼吸道综合症造成的医疗损失并不是很大--马来西亚仅报告了8例疑似病例和2例死亡病例。自去年晚些时候起，这种有致命可能的疾病已经使全球近8000人受到了感染。
马来西亚的一揽子刺激计划同样给抗击严重急性呼吸道综合症的医务工作者提供了奖励措施。在疫情结束以前，医生和医务工作者每月可以获得最高可达100美元的现金奖励。
这是“美国之音”新闻部的库尔特艾森从香港发出的报道。