研究显示南非经济过去20年稳步增长

    This is the Economics Report from VOA Learning English.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语经济报道。

    A new report is praising South Africa for its economic growth over the past 20 years. The report comes from the banking company Goldman Sachs. It decided to examine South Africa's economic progress since the end of white minority rule in 1994.
    一份新的报告赞扬了过去20年南非经济增长取得的成就。该报告来自银行业的高盛公司。该公司决定研究1994年白人少数统治结束以来南非的经济进展。

    Colin Coleman works for the company.
    科林·科尔曼(Colin Coleman)就职于该公司。

    "South Africa in the last year has tended to have a motional, somewhat negative reaction both domestically and internationally. And my view is that we needed to kind of get some perspective on the past 20 years as to what's been achieved in order to get a better balance in the debate," said Colin Coleman.
    科尔曼说,“去年,南非国内外已经趋向于产生一个动态的稍微消极的反作用力。而我的观点是,我们必须从过去二十年的成就中获得一些观点,以便在争论中更好地平衡。”

    The report notes changes to the South African economy over the past 20 years.
    该报告指出了过去二十年南非经济的变化。

    "When you look back at what Nelson Mandela inherited in May when he became president, it was really bitter pill, because you had an indebted nation that had no money. There was growing below-population growth with huge unemployment, huge racial disparities, a very volatile political social environment. Effectively, that gave way to a golden period of growth, low inflation, bringing the debt down and an extraordinary performance until the global financial crisis," Coleman said.
    科尔曼说,“当我们回顾1994年5月份曼德拉成为总统后接手的,那真是一枚苦果。因为他接手的是一个负债累累的穷国,该国的人口低增长率和高失业率不断深化,种族差异严重,政治社会环境动荡。实际上,这最终让位于增长、低通胀、债务减少和成就非凡的黄金期,直到全球金融危机爆发。”

    The report says the amount of money collected in taxes increased from $114 billion in 1994 to $814 billion. South Africans are not always happy about the direction of the economy, but business leaders and economists were pleased to see a long-term look at some of the improvements.
    该报告称,南非税收总额从1994年的1140亿美元增长到8140亿美元。南非人对经济走向不总是乐观,但商界领袖和经济学家很高兴看到一些成就的长远态势。

    Joanne Yawitch heads the National Business Initiative, the organization works on efforts to help strengthening the economy.
    Joanne Yawitch负责南非的国家商业倡议组织。该组织致力于帮助强化经济。

    "There's often a lot of doom and gloom talk about South Africa, but what the report did point out is some fairly of significant achievements over the last 20 years. In particular, there has been an increase in productivity, an increase in employment, there has been a huge increase in the number of people in the middle class. Quite a substantial improvement in the quality of life of a great number of people," said Joanne Yawitch.
    她表示,“谈到南非总是前景黯淡,但该报告实际指出了过去20年一些相当显著的成就。尤其是,生产力提高,就业增加,中产阶级人数大幅增长,很多人的生活质量有了实质性改善。”

    But the country still has problems. The report notes South Africa's education system continues to struggle, and the unemployment rate remains at about 24 percent. It says 70 percent of those jobless people are under age 34. There are also great racial inequality, especially in terms of earnings. The reports says 85 percent of blacks are poor, while 87 percent of whites are middle to upper class.
    但南非还是有它的问题。该报告指出,南非教育体系仍在挣扎中,失业率还维持在24%左右。该报告还表示,70%的失业者年龄小于34岁。此外还存在巨大的种族不平等,特别是在收入方面。该报告称,85%的黑人都是穷人,然而87%的白人是中上阶层。

    There have been criticisms of the report. Some people say it depends heavily on general information, not cultural evidence.
    已经有人对该报告提出批评。有人说,该报告严重依赖于一般信息而不是文化证据。

    When Yawitch agrees with some of the criticisms, but she says the report shows the country has come a long way.
    Yawitch对一些批评表示同意,但她表示,该报告显示,南非已经取得长足进步。

    "I think the reality certainly for me - I mean I grew up under apartheid and have spent 20 years in this democracy - is that life in South Africa is a lot better for most people than it ever was. But there are very, very big things that still have to happen. And I think that's what the report draws our attention to, is that it's a long journey and that we've made progress and must carry on," Yawitch said.
    她说,“对我来说事实更是如此。我的意思是,我在种族隔离制度下长大,并且在现在的民主中生活了20年。对大多数人来说,在南非的生活比以往强了很多。但还有很多事情要做。我认为该报告提醒我们,这是一个长期的过程,我们已经取得进展,必须继续下去。”
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