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Governments around the world are seeing their finances savaged by the pandemic.
世界各地的政府都看到他們的財政因全球性流行病而遭受重創。
And poor ones, who are also suffering from capital flight, are crying out for cash. The IMF, the world's crisis lender, is already parcelling out loans.
那些同樣正在遭遇資金外流的貧困國家急需現金。危機貸方IMF已經在分發貸款。
It may yet resort to a weirder weapon: the special drawing right (SDR), an arcane financial instrument designed in the 1960s.
它或許還會求助于一種更加奇怪的武器：特別提款權（SDR），一種設計于20世紀60年代的神秘金融工具。
At present, some 204bn SDRS sit on the balance-sheets of finance ministries and central banks around the world.
目前，全球各國財政部和央行的資產負債表上約有2040億SDRS。
Each can, in theory, be swapped for currency worth $1.36. Governments in poor countries desperately need cash to retain investors' confidence,
理論上，每一個都可以兌換成為價值1.36美元的貨幣。貧窮國家的政府迫切需要現金來維持投資者的信心，
pay off creditors and buy medical supplies. Some economists think an infusion of SDRS is part of the answer. Could this help tackle the corona-crisis?
還清債務以及購買醫療用品。一些經濟學家認為SDRS的注入是部分答案。這能幫助阻止冠狀病毒危機嗎？
When SDRS were introduced in 1969 they were intended to reduce the world's dependence on dollars.
1969年，SDRS被引入時，其目的是為了降低世界對美元的依賴。
At the time many of the world's countries pegged their currencies to the greenback,
當時，世界很多國家的貨幣都和美元掛鉤，
which was itself tied to gold, under the so-called "Bretton Woods" system of fixed exchange rates.
而在所謂的“布雷頓森林”固定匯率體系下，美元本身又與黃金掛鉤。
But the two components were in tension with one another. When too few dollars circulated in the world economy,
但這兩個部分相互矛盾。當世界經濟中流通的美元太少時
perhaps as a result of America spending less on imports, countries would hoard greenbacks to defend their pegs, and global commerce ground to a halt.
（可能是由于美國減少了進口支出），各國會囤積美元以保護其掛鉤匯率，全球貿易將陷入停滯。
But creating enough dollars to satisfy the global demand for reserves imperilled the credibility of the dollar's peg to gold.
但創造出能夠滿足全球儲備需求的美元又會危及美元掛鉤黃金的可信度。
Providing an alternative reserve asset, it was thought, might provide an escape from this dilemma.
人們認為提供另一種儲備資產或許能夠擺脫這種困境。
The idea was reminiscent of "bancor", a global currency proposed by John Maynard Keynes in 1941.
這一想法讓人們回憶起了1941年約翰·梅納德·凱恩斯提議的一種全球貨幣——“bancor”。
Like bancor, SDRS aim to share the so-called "seigniorage" benefits that accrue to America as a result of providing the world's currency.
和bancor一樣，SDRS旨在分享美國所享有的所謂的“鑄幣稅”的好處，這是美國提供世界貨幣的結果。
To reinforce their balance-sheets with dollars, countries must, in aggregate, sell goods and services to America and hold on to the proceeds.
為了用美元來鞏固他們的資產負債表，這些國家必須向美國出售商品和服務，并把收益留在手中。
But when SDRS are issued, everyone gets reserves without having to provide anything in return.
但當發行SDRS時，每個國家都可以獲得儲備，而無需提供任何回報。
Reserves fall like manna from heaven, rather than emerging from trade flows.
儲備金像天上掉下來的甘露，而不是從貿易流通中冒出來的。
Yet SDRS failed to take off. The need for them became less pressing after America untethered the dollar from gold in 1971.
但SDRS沒能發展起來。1971年美國將美元與黃金脫鉤后，對它們的需求就不那么迫切了。
And too few were issued. Keynes had proposed that the stock of bancors would grow in line with world trade.
發行的SDRS很少。凱恩斯曾提議，bancors的存量將隨著世界貿易的增長而增長。
But political wrangling means that there have been only three allocations of SDRS, the most recent of which was in 2009.
但政治角逐意味著只有三次SDRS的分配，最近一次是在2009年。
They make up less than 3% of non-gold reserves; by contrast, the dollar makes up over half.
它們在非黃金儲備中所占的比例不到3%；相比之下，美元占了一半以上。
As a source of liquidity, though, SDRS have their advantages. They are not a true currency,
不過，作為一種流動資產來源，SDRS有其自身的優勢。它們并非真正的貨幣，
as they can be exchanged only between IMF members and not in private markets.
因為它們只能在IMF成員國之間兌換，而不能在私人市場上兌換。
Maurice Obstfeld of the University of California, Berkeley—and a former chief economist at the fund—sees them as a way to share risk.
加州大學伯克利分校的Maurice Obstfeld——兼IMF前首席經濟學家——將它們看成是一種分擔風險的方法。
Countries are given SDRS in proportion to their IMF "quotas", which determine their financial commitment to the fund and their voting rights.
各國根據他們的IMF“配額”分配SDRS，配額決定了他們對IMF的財政承擔和投票權。
When they face a liquidity crunch, they can offer cash-rich countries SDRS in exchange for hard currency.
當他們面臨資金緊縮時，他們可以向現金充裕的國家提供SDRS，以換取硬通貨。
They must pay interest, currently at a rate of 0.05%, on the amount of their SDRS they choose to convert,
他們必須為交換的SDRS支付利息，目前的利率為0.05%，
making exchanging an SDR a bit like drawing on an emergency overdraft—one that does not need to be repaid.
這使得兌換SDR有點像是緊急透支——一種不需要償還的透支。
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