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But in exchange for its help, the IMF typically insists governments do what they find most difficult: reduce public spending, raise taxes and implement reforms designed to lower their debt-to-GDP ratios, such as cutting subsidies for fuel or food.
不过，作为提供帮助的交换，国际货币基金组织通常执意要求这些政府做他们认为最困难的事情: 减少公共支出，提高税收，实施旨在降低其债务负担率的改革，如削减燃料或食品补贴。
Unsurprisingly, politicians are often reluctant to undertake these measures.
毋庸置疑，政界人士往往不愿采取这些措施。
It’s not just that the reforms often leave voters worse off and make politicians less popular. National pride is also at stake.
这不仅仅是因为这些改革往往会让选民处境更糟，让政界人士更不受欢迎。更因为这会让民族自豪感岌岌可危。
Bowing to demands from an institution dominated by foreign governments can be seen as humiliating, and an admission of domestic dysfunction and misgovernance.
屈服于由外国政府主导机构提出的要求，可能会被视为一种耻辱，也是对国内治理失灵与管理不善的承认。
On the rare occasions that the IMF criticises the policies of a wealthy European state, this too can embroil the institution in domestic political conflicts.
在极少数情况下，国际货币基金组织会对某个富裕欧洲国家的政策进行批评，但这也可能会使该机构卷入国内政治冲突中。
In September, the IMF’s criticism of Liz Truss’s proposed tax cuts provided ammunition to her political opponents and contributed to a slump in the pound’s value.
今年9月，国际货币基金组织对利兹·特拉斯减税提议的批评为她的政治对手提供了弹药，并导致英镑暴跌。
The decision to sack chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng was taken while he was attending the IMF’s annual meeting in Washington DC, where the institution’s leading officials did little to mask their disapproval of his policies.
解除夸西·科沃滕财相职务的决定发出时，他正在出席华盛顿国际货币基金组织年会，该组织的领导干部几乎没有掩饰他们对他政策的不满。
In future histories of the fall of Truss, the IMF is likely to play a not insignificant role.
在之后特拉斯倒台的历史中，国际货币基金组织可能会扮演一个不可忽视的角色。
Despite all this, the IMF is not the kingmaker it once was.
尽管如此，国际货币基金组织已经不再像以前那样能左右全局。
After reaching the height of its powers in the 90s, when its name became synonymous with the excesses of neoliberal globalisation and US overreach, the IMF has faced increasing resistance.
国际货币基金组织在上世纪90年代达到权力巅峰，当时它的名字成为新自由主义全球化和美国过度扩张的同义词，但在那之后，该组织就面临着越来越大的阻力。
It’s still the only institution that can guarantee assistance to nearly any country experiencing extreme financial stress.
它仍然是唯一一个可以保证向几乎所有经历极端财政压力的国家提供援助的机构。
But the decline of US power, emergence of alternative lenders, and the IMF’s reputation as a domineering taskmaster has left it an anomalous position.
不过，美国实力的衰落、其他贷款机构的出现，以及该组织“霸道监工”的名声，使其处于一个反常的位置。
It is much needed and little loved, enormously powerful and often ineffectual in getting states to agree to its terms.
该组织备受各国需要，但却很少受到欢迎，影响力颇大，但在让各国接受其条款上却又常常无能为力。
If predictions are correct that the world is entering an extended period of economic turmoil, this will only increase the need for some kind of global lender of last resort.
如果世界经济动荡时期正在延长的预言无误，那么，这只会增加各国不得已寻求某种全球贷款机构的需求。
Whether the IMF is up to the task depends on whether it has learned from its chequered history.
国际货币基金组织能否胜任这项任务，取决于它是否能从其波折不断的历史中吸取教训。
