The International Monetary Fund is raising its outlook for the US in a sign that the world’s largest economy has reached a turning point and is poised for stronger growth almost five years after a devastating recession.
国际货币基金组织(International Monetary Fund，简称IMF)上调了对美国经济前景的预期，这一迹象表明，在遭受危害巨大的经济衰退近五年后，全球最大经济体已到达一个转折点，即将迎来更加强劲的经济增长。
Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the IMF, delivered a bullish forecast for US growth, saying that a budget deal by the US Congress, strong data and the Federal Reserve’s plan to taper bond buying had given the world “a lot more certainty for 2014”.
IMF总裁克里斯蒂娜•拉加德(Christine Lagarde)看好美国经济增长前景，称美国国会达成的预算协议、强劲的经济数据以及美联储(Federal Reserve)缩减债券购买计划的方案，使得“2014年的世界经济形势更具确定性”。
“Growth is picking up and unemployment is going down. So all of that gives us a much stronger outlook for 2014, which brings us to raising our forecast,” she said on NBC’s Meet the Press yesterday.
拉加德在美国全国广播公司(NBC)昨日的《与媒体见面》(Meet the Press)节目中称：“经济增长正在加速，失业率正在下降。所有这些都使我们更加看好2014年的经济增长形势，并促使我们上调对美国的经济增长预期。”
Ms Lagarde’s rosy assessment follows a week of promising signs for the US economy.
在拉加德做出以上看好评估之前的一周，美国经济出现了一系列令人振奋的好转迹象。
The passage of a two-year budget deal signaled that longstanding political gridlock on fiscal issues in the US capital had eased, at least temporarily, while data showed the economy grew at its fastest rate in nearly two years in the third quarter.
两年期预算协议的通过表明，华盛顿在财政问题上长期以来的政治僵局已经缓和，至少暂时如此，而经济数据显示，今年第三季度美国经济增速达到近两年最高水平。
The Federal Reserve, meanwhile, has announced a scaling back in its $85bn-a-month monetary stimulus in what was seen as recognition that the US economy was finally delivering sustainable growth.
与此同时，美联储宣布，将缩减其每月850亿美元货币刺激计划的规模，此举被看做是承认美国终于实现了可持续的经济增长。
Ms Lagarde said that the Fed’s decision to taper asset purchases was evidence that the economy was picking up and that unemployment would fall.
拉加德称，美联储收缩资产购买计划规模的决定表明，美国经济增长正在提速，失业率将下降。
But she warned of the consequences of another political battle over an increase to the US borrowing authority, also referred to as the debt ceiling.
但她警告称，应警惕围绕提高美国债务上限的政治角力可能引发的后果。
“I, for myself, certainly hope that in February, Congress will be equally responsible and will not threaten the recovery with yet another debate about whether or not the US will honor or default in February,” she said.
拉加德称：“就我自己来说，当然希望明年2月美国国会能够表现出同样的责任感，不要在明年2月再用一场围绕美国应当偿付还是违约的辩论威胁经济复苏。”
