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Donald Trump nominated David Malpass to become the World Bank’s next president, a job that is by tradition filled by the American government. Mr Malpass currently heads international affairs at the Treasury. A controversial choice, he has voiced concerns about the spreading power of multilateral and global institutions and of Chinese influence. He was part of the negotiating team that agreed to a capital increase in the World Bank in return for restraint on staff wages and benefits.
特朗普提名戴維·馬爾帕斯(David Malpass)為世界銀行(World Bank)下一任行長，按照傳統，該職位通常由美國政府任命。馬爾帕斯目前在財政部負責國際事務。作為一名有爭議的人選，他曾表達過對多邊國際機構以及中國影響力不斷擴大的擔憂。他是同意世界銀行增加資本來限制員工工資和福利的談判小組的一員。
Europe’s competition commissioner blocked the merger of Alstom with the rail operations of Siemens, reasoning that the combination of the French and German companies would lead to higher prices in the markets for signalling systems and high-speed trains. Supporters of the deal, such as Bruno Le Maire, the French finance minister, said it was a mistake because such mega-mergers are vital to take on the might of Chinese companies. However, in some markets a combined Alstom-Siemens would have been three times bigger than its largest rival.
歐盟競爭專員阻止了阿爾斯通與西門子鐵路業務的合并，理由是法國與德國公司的合并將導致信號系統和高速列車市場價格上漲。法國財政部長布魯諾·勒梅爾(Bruno Le Maire)和支持該交易的其他人表示，這是一個錯誤，因為此類大型合并對于挑戰中國企業的實力至關重要。然而，在某些市場，合并后的阿爾斯通-西門子將是其最大競爭對手的三倍規模。
Nissan’s reversal of a promise to build the X-Trail suv at its factory in Sunderland, a city in the north of England, was blamed by Remainers on Britain’s commitment to leave the European Union. The carmaker said that Brexit was a concern. But its decision was also driven by the collapse in demand for diesel and the lower costs of making the vehicle in Japan.
日產汽車放棄了在其位于英格蘭北部城市桑德蘭(Sunderland)的工廠生產X-Trail運動型多功能車(suv)的承諾，留歐派將此變故歸咎于英國退出歐盟的承諾。這家汽車制造商表示，英國退歐的形勢令人擔憂。但該公司做出決定的另一個原因是，市場對柴油的需求銳減，以及日本汽車制造成本的降低。
Ryanair reported its first quarterly loss since 2014. Europe’s biggest low-cost airline said that although passenger numbers had grown, the average fare it was able to charge had fallen to less than 30 euros ($34) because of excess short-haul capacity in Europe. In a nod to shareholder discontent, the airline is replacing its chairman, who has been in the job for over 20 years. It is also moving to set up a group structure which will be overseen by Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s ebullient chief executive.
瑞安航空自2014年以來首次出現季度虧損。這家歐洲最大的低成本航空公司表示，盡管乘客的數量有所增長，但由于歐洲的短途航線運力過剩，該公司能夠收取的平均票價已降至不足30歐元(合34美元)。考慮到股東的不滿，這家航空公司將換掉其任職20多年的董事長。該公司還在著手建立一個由干勁十足的瑞安航空首席執行官邁克爾·奧利里監督的集團結構。
Underlining the turbulence in Europe’s discount-flight market, Germania became the latest in a long list of low-cost carriers to declare bankruptcy. The Berlin-based airline flew 4m passengers last year.
日耳曼航空成為最新一家宣布破產的低成本航空公司，這突顯出歐洲廉價航班市場的動蕩。這家總部位于柏林的航空公司去年的客運量為400萬人次。
Turkey’s inflation rate crept up to 20.4% in January. Floods in Antalya province, the centre of Turkey’s greenhouse production of vegetables and fruits, helped push food inflation up to 31%, the highest reading since 2004 and up from 25% in December. Although it is under political pressure to reduce interest rates, the central bank recently committed itself to maintain its tight monetary stance until price pressures weaken. Happily, it also forecast that inflation will fall by the end of the year.
土耳其1月份的通脹率攀升至20.4%。土耳其大棚種植蔬菜和水果生產中心安塔利亞省發生洪災，導致食品價格上漲31%，創2004年以來的最高水平，高于去年12月的25%。盡管面臨著降息的政治壓力，不過土耳其央行最近承諾，將維持緊縮的貨幣政策直到價格壓力減弱。令人高興的是，它還預測到年底通貨膨脹率將會下降。
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