This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。
Central bankers have to choose their words carefully. So they often say little in public -- or little that makes sense. But the United States central bank says it is trying to be more clear and timely in communicating its policies.
央行官员必须出言谨慎，所以他们在公共场合通常说得不多--或言之不详。但美国央行表示，他们正试图在政策沟通方面更加清晰、及时。
The latest example: a press conference by Chairman Ben Bernanke. Wednesday's event was the first of its kind in the ninety-eight-year history of the Federal Reserve.
最新的例子是美联储主席本·伯南克（Ben Bernanke）的一场新闻发布会。周三的新闻发布会在美联储98年历史上尚属首次。
In his opening comments. Mr. Bernanke explained a decision by the Federal Open Market Committee to leave its main short-term interest rate near zero. The committee had just completed a two-day meeting.
在他的公开讲话中，伯南克解释了联邦公开市场委员会做出的保持短期利率接近于零的决定。该委员会刚刚结束为期两天的会议。
BEN BERNANKE: "The committee continues to anticipate that the economic conditions -- including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends and stable inflation expectations -- are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate for an extended period."
伯南克：“联邦公开市场委员会继续对经济形势做出预测 -- 包括资源利用处于低位，通胀趋势趋于温和，通胀预期趋于稳定 - 可能保证在较长时间内联邦贷款利率的低水平。
In other words, the economy is not growing fast enough to worry about inflation. A reporter asked what an "extended period" means to the Fed. Mr. Bernanke said it suggests "a couple of meetings probably" but it all depends on the economy.
换言之，经济增长速度尚未快到需要担心通货膨胀的地步。有记者问，对美联储来说，“在较长时间内”意味着什么。伯南克说，这可能是数次会议之后，但这一切都取决于经济形势。
The chairman said it is very hard to blame the American public for being impatient with the speed of the recovery. But he pointed out that unemployment is still high -- 8.8 percent in March. Oil and gasoline prices are high. And the housing market remains very weak.
伯南克表示，很难指责美国公众对经济复苏的速度失去耐心。但他指出，失业率仍然很高--三月份的失业率为8.8%。石油和汽油的价格也处于高位。而房地产市场仍然非常疲软。
The committee said it will complete purchases of six hundred billion dollars in Treasury securities in June. The Fed launched the bond buying program late last year in an effort to keep interest rates low and strengthen the economy.
联邦公开市场委员会表示，他们将在六月份完成6000亿美国国债的收购。美联储去年年底发起了国债收购计划，目的是保持低利率，强化经济。
Some economists say this second round of what is known as quantitative easing, or "QE2," has not been effective. Mr. Bernanke disagreed and pointed to examples like gains in stock prices.
一些经济学家表示，第二轮“量化宽松”政策成效不大。伯南克不赞同这点，他举出了股票价格上涨的例子。
The Fed has two main goals for its monetary policy: the highest possible employment rates and stable prices. The bank faced criticism for intervening either too little to some critics or too much to others in the financial crisis.
美联储的货币政策主要有两个目标：尽可能高的就业率和稳定的物价。中央银行面临着诸多批评，对一些批评家来说，美联储在金融危机期间干预太少，而对另一些批评家来说又干预太多。
The press conference produced no surprises. Yet, as recently as the middle of the nineteen nineties, the Fed did not even release its decisions or its interest rate targets to the public.
这次新闻发布会并没有出现出人意料的结果。而就在上世纪90年代中期，美联储甚至都不向公众公布其决定或利率目标。
Today the Fed is trying to reach out to Americans through ways like this video on its website.
今天，美联储正试图通过各种方式与公众保持接触，例如其网站上的这则视频。
BEN BERNANKE: "Hi, I'm Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve System. The Fed, as it's often called...( is the central bank of the United States). "
伯南克：“大家好，我是本·伯南克，美联储主席。美联储通常被称作是（美国的中央银行）……”
The Fed announced in March that Mr. Bernanke will hold four press briefings a year. The next of three planned for this year will follow a decision on interest rates in June.
美联储三月份宣布，伯南克每年将举行四次新闻发布会。今年剩下的三场发布会将在6月份作出关于利率的决定后举行。