Too little help from their friends

能从朋友那得到的帮助实在是太少

The response from richer governments and international institutions has been patchy. The IMF has disbursed over $30bn in emergency financing to 76 countries since March. It has acted fast, but the sum is far from enough. Earlier this year African finance ministers got together and calculated that African countries alone will suffer a short-term funding gap of $100bn in 2020, rising to $200bn next year.

富裕国家政府和国际机构的反应一直不一致。自今年3月以来，国际货币基金组织已经向76个国家提供了300亿美元的紧急融资。这一行动迅速，但所提供的总额还远远不够。今年早些时候，非洲各国财长聚在一起计算，到2020年，仅非洲国家就将面临1000亿美元的短期融资缺口，明年这将升至2000亿美元。

词汇

Patchy/零散的；散落的；不一致的

The G20 has agreed to suspend payments between May and December on bilateral debt from 73 of the world’s poorest countries, if they want such help. That is a fraction of the $31.5bn in external debt servicing they face in that period. So far just 42 countries have requested support, which would free up $5.3bn for them to spend on things like health care and welfare programmes. The scheme doesn’t touch commercial lending from banks or bondholders. Nor does it include Asian countries such as India and the Philippines, where many of the newly destitute reside.

20国集团已经同意，如果世界上73个最贫穷的国家需要这样的帮助，将在5月到12月间暂停他们的双边债务支付事项。这与他们在此期间所面临的315亿美元外债还本付息相比，只是九牛一毛。迄今为止，只有42个国家请求援助，这将使它们获得53亿美元资金，用于医疗和福利项目等方面。该计划不涉及银行或债券持有人的商业贷款。这也不包括许多新贫困者所居住的印度和菲律宾等亚洲国家

词汇

Bilateral/双边的；有两边的

Fraction/小部分；少量；一点儿

free up /开放（市场、经济或体制）

Destitute/赤贫者（带有一贫如洗那种意思的贫困）

Politicians in poor countries, shackled by debt, will struggle to provide meaningful support. The pandemic has shown how flimsy recent progress has been, says Andrew Sumner of King’s College London. He reckons that the proportion of people in poor countries living on less than $1.90 a day had fallen last year to 17%. But a third were still living on less than $3.20 a day. Covid-19 has exposed the vulnerability of that group—the poor but not destitute—in the face of a big economic shock. Policymakers must now help people climb back above the poverty line—and devise ways to make them more resilient to future shocks.

贫穷国家的政客们被债务束缚，将难以提供有意义的支持。伦敦大学国王学院的Andrew Sumner 说，疫情显示了最近的进展是多么的微薄。他估计，贫困国家中每天生活费低于1.90美元的人口比例去年已下降到17%。但依旧有三分之一的人每天的生活费还不到3.20美元。新冠暴露了这个群体（贫困人口）的脆弱性——穷人但不是赤贫者——面对巨大的经济冲击。决策者现在必须帮助人们重新脱贫——并设计出方法使他们更能适应未来的冲击。

词汇

Shackle/ 束缚；加枷锁

Flimsy/脆弱的；浅薄的

resilient /弹回的；能复原的