英语四级阅读亚洲政府补贴舒缓通胀阵痛_大学英语阅读

英语四级阅读亚洲政府补贴舒缓通胀阵痛

　　In Hong Kong, a city which imports nearly all its food supply, inflation surged to a 30-month high in February. Shortages and higher demand in Chinese mainland, the source of much of Hong Kongs food, have spilled over here. One eggplant can now cost more than a dollar in supermarkets.

　　The government promised to use its budget surplus this year to help citizens by offering electricity subsidies, increasing welfare payments and handing out $770 to every resident.

　　Well, I think those subsidies help to provide certain relief especially to the grassroots and the lower middle class, said Connie Bolland, the chief economist of Economic Research Analysis in Hong Kong. But the amount I think is probably too small to make a difference.

　　Not sustainable

　　But economic analysts say that while price controls and subsidies help some people, they are not sustainable because they could cost governments a lot of money in the long run, worsening budget deficits. Sander says subsidies should be targeted to benefit everybody.

　　If these subsidies were very targeted to people in the bottom, we think that there will be a lot more to benefit than this overall subsidy which basically ends up reaching everyone, said Sander.

　　Authorities in China, the Philippines, South Korea, India, Thailand and Indonesia have also raised interest rates in the last two months to reduce the amount of money in the financial system - another means of reining in inflation. They say rates could still go up as long as prices keep on climbing.