Oil price briefly falls below $30 a barrel

Oil prices have briefly fallen below 30 dollars a barrel on international markets for the first time since April 2004, before recovering again.

自2004年4月以来，国际市场油价在回复到正常价格以前，首次跌到每桶30美元元以下。

Brent crude, used as an international benchmark, fell as low as $29.96, but bounced back to trade at $30.22.

布伦特原油指数曾一度降至29.96美元/桶，但已回升到30.22美元/桶。

Oil prices have fallen by 70% in the past 15 months.

在过去的15个月里，油价下跌了70%。

Earlier, Russia’s Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, warned tumbling oil prices could force his country to revise its 2016 budget.

俄罗斯总理德米特里.梅德韦杰夫曾警告称，油价暴跌将迫使俄罗斯修改2016年度的财政预算。

He said that the country must be prepared for a "worst-case" economic scenario if the price continued to fall.

梅德韦杰夫表示，如若油价继续下跌，俄罗斯应做好准备，应对经济的“最低谷”。

Taxes from oil and gas generates about half the Russian government’s revenue.

俄罗斯政府约一半的财政收入都来自石油和天然气税收。

The 2016 federal budget that was approved in October was based on an oil price of $50 a barrel in 2016 - a figure President Vladimir Putin has since described as "unrealistic".

2015年10月，俄罗斯政府2016年的财政预算获得通过，通过的基础是来年油价达到每桶50美元。俄罗斯总统普京认为这一数字简直是“天方夜谭”。

Government departments have been ordered to cut spending by 10%, repeating a policy imposed in 2015, Reuters reported.

据路透社报道，俄罗斯的政府部门已受命削减10%的财政支出，一如2015年实行的政策。

Pensions and pay for government workers will be protected from the cuts, which could save as much as 700bn roubles (?6.3bn; $9.1bn).

而支付给政府工作人员的养老金和工资将不会受到影响。若这部分支出执行削减令，俄罗斯政府将节省7000亿卢布（约合63亿欧元或91亿美元）的资金。

Finance minister Anton Siluanov said that the Russian budget could only be balanced at an oil price of $82 a barrel.

财政部部长安东.西卢阿诺夫称除非油价达到每桶82美元，否则2016年度俄罗斯政府将入不敷出。

New realities’

“新实际油价”

He said the 2016 budget should be revised to assume an oil price of $40 a barrel.

西卢阿诺夫认为假定油价能够达到每桶40美元，2016年的财政预算应做出调整。

"Our task is to adapt our budget to the new realities," Mr Siluanov said.

他表示：“我们应该根据市场实际的油价修改财政预算。”

Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev warned that Russia faced a long period of low commodity prices with oil at $15 or $20 a barrel.

经济发展部部长阿列克谢.乌柳卡耶夫则认为，较长一段时间内，油价可能低至每桶15美元或20美元。

"The biggest risk is that there will be low prices for a long time - that is, for years, for decades," he said.

乌柳卡耶夫称：“如此之低的（石油）价格可能会持续数年，甚至数十年之久，这才是俄罗斯目前面临的最大风险。”

Mr Medvedev also said that high interests rates were holding back economic growth in Russia.

梅德韦杰夫还表示，利率过高阻碍了俄罗斯的经济发展。

The Bank of Russia held rates at 11% last month, with governor Elvira Nabiullina warning of "high volatility" in global markets.

上个月，俄罗斯央行行长埃莉维拉.纳比乌林娜认为国际市场“波动性过大”，决定将利率稳定在11%的水平。

A year ago the central bank shocked markets by increasing rates from 10.5% to 17%.Inflation stands at 15% in Russia, but the bank hopes it would fall to 4% by next year.

一年前，俄罗斯央行将利率从10.5%升至17%，举世震惊。2015年，俄罗斯的通货膨胀率达到15%，央行希望2016年这一数字下降到4%。(声明：本文为爱语吧原创翻译，转载请注明来源，否则追究法律责任！)

完成阅读

来源:BBC爱语吧作者:gandalf