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The world this week--Business
本周国际要闻——商业
America’s annual rate of inflation as measured by the official consumer-price index jumped again in March to 8.5%, from 7.9% in February.
以官方消费者价格指数衡量，美国3月份的年通胀率从2月份的7.9%再次跃升至8.5%。
Inflation is being fuelled by surging energy and commodity prices.
能源和大宗商品价格的飙升正在推高通胀。
There may be some respite for consumers this month as oil prices have fallen back recently, in part because of weaker demand in China.
由于近期油价回落，本月消费者可能会得到一些喘息之机，部分原因是中国需求减弱。
Brent crude is trading around $100 to $105 a barrel having hurtled towards $140 in early March.
布伦特原油目前的交易价格约为每桶100美元至105美元，3月初曾飙升至每桶140美元。
Petrol prices rose by 18% in America last month, but have been in retreat in April.
上个月，美国的汽油价格上涨了18%，但在4月份有所回落。
Britain’s annual inflation rate rose to 7%.
英国的年通货膨胀率上升到7%。
Responding to “rising inflation expectations”, New Zealand’s central bank lifted its main interest rate by half a percentage point, to 1.5%.
为了应对“日益高涨的通胀预期”，新西兰中央银行将其主要利率上调了0.5个百分点，至1.5%。
The Federal Reserve may raise rates by the same amount next month.
美联储可能在下个月提高同等利率。
Global food prices hit a new high, according to an index from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.
根据联合国粮食及农业组织的一项指数，全球食品价格创下新高。
The war in Ukraine has amplified existing supply strains, such as crop conditions in America.
乌克兰战争加剧了现有的供应紧张，比如美国的作物状况。
Russia and Ukraine account for 30% of the world’s wheat exports and 20% of maize (corn).
俄罗斯和乌克兰占世界小麦出口的30%，玉米出口的20%。
The price of both staples soared by close to 20% in March.
这两种主要商品的价格在3月份飙升了近20%。
Higher prices for sunflower seed oil, of which Ukraine is the biggest exporter, have pushed up the prices of palm, soya and rapeseed oil.
葵花籽油(乌克兰是葵花籽油的最大出口国)价格上涨，推高了棕榈油、大豆油和菜籽油的价格。
The World Bank forecast that Ukraine’s economy will shrink by 45% this year because of Russia’s invasion.
世界银行预测，由于俄罗斯的入侵，乌克兰经济今年将萎缩45%。
Half of the country’s businesses are closed and others are struggling.
该国一半的企业倒闭，其他企业则在苦苦挣扎。
Russian GDP is set to contract by 11%.
俄罗斯国内生产总值预计将萎缩11%。
Russia’s central bank unexpectedly cut its main interest rate to 17%, having doubled it to 20% at the start of the war.
俄罗斯中央银行出人意料地将其主要利率降至17%，而在战争开始时，其利率已翻倍至20%。
It now thinks the rouble has sufficiently recovered from its rout in the markets to lessen the threat of a spike in inflation.
该机构现在认为，卢布已经从市场的暴跌中充分恢复过来，从而减轻了通胀飙升的威胁。
It also lifted one of its temporary capital controls by allowing people to buy cash foreign currencies again.
该机构还取消了一项临时资本管制措施，允许人们再次购买现金外币。
Societe Generale decided to sell Rosbank, a big Russian firm it owns, joining a long list of companies to leave Russia.
法国兴业银行决定出售其所有的俄罗斯大公司罗斯银行，加入了一长串离开俄罗斯的公司的行列。
The French bank is one of several Western companies with a serious presence in Russia’s financial industry.
这家法国银行是在俄罗斯金融业占有重要地位的几家西方公司之一。
It is selling the assets to Vladimir Potanin, Russia’s richest man, who is not subject to sanctions by America, Britain or the EU, though Canada recently added him to its list.
这家银行正将这些资产出售给俄罗斯首富弗拉基米尔·波塔宁。尽管加拿大最近将他列入制裁名单，但波塔宁并未受到美国、英国或欧盟的制裁。
Elon Musk flashed his mercurial side by declining a seat on Twitter’s board, days after he was offered one.
埃隆·马斯克展示了自己善变的一面，在获得Twitter董事会席位几天后，他拒绝了这个席位。
He also deleted a number of sarcastic tweets that he had posted about the company, including one that suggested it dropped the “w” from Twitter.
他还删除了一些他发布的关于该公司的讽刺推文，包括一条暗示该公司删除了Twitter的“w”。
Parag Agrawal, the chief executive, didn’t give a reason for Mr Musk’s change of mind, but said, “I believe this is for the best.”
首席执行官帕拉格·阿格拉沃尔没有说明马斯克改变主意的原因，但表示:“我相信这是最好的选择。”
Tesla’s boss has amassed a 9.2% stake in the social-media platform.
特斯拉的老板已经积累了这家社交媒体平台9.2%的股份。
