MERS致韓旅遊零售業遭重挫

　　本日口譯文章：MERS襲擊韓國經濟 旅行零售業遭重挫

　　韓國首爾——曩昔一個月，明洞售貨員弓足花(Kim Yon-hwa，音)目擊了反應中東呼吸綜合征(Middle East respiratory syndrome，簡稱MERS)疫情的一個偉大變更：她的化裝品店外的街道曾擠滿了外國旅客，如今卻險些空無一人。明洞是首爾備受迎接的一個購物區。

　　“表面基本看不到任何外國人，對吧?”她朝街上看了一眼，說道。“情形已不但是緊張了;在咱們看來，這是一場危急。”

　　自5月20日在韓國發明具備沾染性的MERS的第一個病例以來，它已嚇走了大批旅客和海內花費者，當局開端擔憂它對經濟釀成的影響。

　　只管衛生官員表現疫情正在削弱，然則擔憂疫情會造成更久長影響的當局決議計劃者周一表現，他們正在斟酌經由過程增長開支的做法來刺激經濟。

　　曩昔幾天，兩個由國度贊助的研討機構猜測稱，2015年的經濟增加率將從客歲的3.3%降至2.8%–2.9%。他們以為MERS疫情給經濟造成為了累贅——經濟已湧現了更緊張的放緩跡象，好比內需不敷和出口削減。

　　因為擔憂被沾染，韓國人在只管即便避開人群。大型阛阓、主題公園、棒球場，乃至地鐵和大眾汽車都表現花費者或應用者人數大批削減。很多人都不肯意看大夫，由於這類病毒便是經由過程病院流傳的。

　　MERS還匆匆使本來增加敏捷的外國旅客人數湧現驟降，這些旅客重要來自中國。當局數據表現，本月共有逾12.4萬名旅客——個中大多來自中國大陸、台灣和香港——撤消了他們的韓國行程，估計同比下降24%。

　　講中文的旅客的湧入，曩昔一向是放緩的韓國經濟的一個亮點。

　　在明洞，售貨員曾用中文向擠滿窄窄街道的旅客吆喝。

　　5月，當韓國遭到MERS進擊時，統統都產生了變更。香港乃至申飭住民不要前去韓國。

　　疫情暴發前，首爾免稅店周邊的街道統統被滿載中國旅客的巴士壅塞。如今，它們都不見了。對付首爾江南區的整形外科診所，MERS也是個壞新聞。這些診所一向在靠來整形的中國女性紅利。

　　這次疫情“已對經濟造成為了緊張影響”，企劃財務部部長崔炅煥(Choi Kyung-hwan)周一對議會表現。他還說，當局正在斟酌一項彌補預算，以刺激由於MERS引發的驚恐而遭到克制的海內需求。

　　早些時刻把基準利率降到汗青最低點的韓國央行上周表現，將供給6500億韓元(約合36.5億元國民幣)贊助受疫情影響的中小型企業。

　　周一，韓國當局財務辦事委員會(Financial Services Commission)主席任鐘龍(Yim Jong-yong)告知一些海內銀行引導人，“你們不克不及鄙人雨的時刻把雨傘撤走。”他催促他們針對受MERS影響最緊張的零售商和其他小型企業供給更多的贊助。

　　韓國共有172人遭到沾染，個中滅亡27人。除沙特阿拉伯之外，韓國事MERS疫情最緊張之處。2012年，MERS初次在沙特阿拉伯湧現。韓國衛生官員表現，疫情仿佛已漸漸獲得掌握，新增病例的數目在削減。

　　為了從新吸引外國旅客，韓國文化體育旅行部(The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism)為外國旅客供給了免費的保險辦事。這些保險將席卷全部與MERS相幹的醫療費和其他用度。然則，從商者擔憂MERS對海內花費和旅行業的影響將會連續。

　　“很榮幸，MERS的勢頭在逐步削弱，”韓國產業商會(Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry)會長樸容晚(Park Yong-maan)周一表現。“然則經濟氣氛仍舊位於壓制狀況。”

　　【參考譯文】

　　SEOUL, South Korea — In the past month, Kim Yon-hwa, a sales clerk in Myeongdong, a popular shopping district in Seoul, has witnessed a drastic change reflecting the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome: The street outside her cosmetics shop, once teeming with foreign tourists, is nearly empty.

　　“You can’t see any foreigners outside, can you?” she said, glancing at the street. “The situation is not just serious; as far as we are concerned, it’s a crisis.”

　　Since the first case of the infectious disease, known as MERS, was discovered in South Korea on May 20, the outbreak has scared away enough tourists and domestic consumers for the government to worry about its effect on the economy.

　　Although health officials said the outbreak was subsiding, government policy makers who fear a much longer effect said on Monday that they were considering a spending increase to help stimulate the economy.

　　In the past few days, two state-financed research organizations forecast that the economic growth rate in 2015 would slow to a range of 2.8 percent to 2.9 percent, down from 3.3 percent last year. They cited the MERS outbreak as a burden on the economy, which had already shown more serious signs of slowing down, like weak domestic demand and declining exports.

　　As South Koreans avoided crowds for fear of infection, shopping malls, theme parks, baseball stadiums and even subways and charter bus services all reported a sharp drop in users. Many people avoided seeing doctors, as the virus spread through hospitals.

　　The disease also turned off what used to be a fast-growing inflow of foreign tourists, mainly from China. More than 124,000 tourists, most of them from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, have canceled trips to South Korea this month, an estimated drop of 24 percent from last year, according to government data.

　　The influx of Chinese-speaking tourists had been a bright spot for South Korea’s slowing economy.

　　In Myeongdong, sales clerks used to shout in Chinese into a human river of tourists that filled up the alleyways.

　　That changed when the virus hit South Korea in May, leading Hong Kong to advise residents to refrain from visiting South Korea.

　　Before the outbreak, buses loaded with Chinese tourists clogged the streets around duty-free shops in Seoul. Now they are all gone. The virus has also been bad news for plastic surgery clinics in the Gangnam district of Seoul, which have been profiting from Chinese women arriving for face-lifts.

　　The outbreak “has already had a significant impact on the economy,” the minister of strategy and finance, Choi Kyung-hwan, told Parliament on Monday, adding that the government was considering a supplementary budget to help stimulate domestic demand dampened by the MERS scare.

　　The central Bank of Korea, which had earlier cut its benchmark interest rate to a historic low, said last week that it would provide 650 billion won, or $590 million, in funding to small and midsize enterprises affected by the outbreak.

　　“You should not take the umbrella away while it’s raining,” Yim Jong-yong, chairman of the government’s Financial Services Commission, told a meeting of domestic bank leaders on Monday, urging them to extend help to retailers and other small companies worst hit by MERS.

　　With 172 people infected, including 27 deaths, the MERS outbreak in South Korea is the largest outside Saudi Arabia, where the disease first emerged in 2012. South Korean health officials said that the outbreak appeared to be coming under control, with the number of new cases decreasing.

　　In an attempt to lure back foreign tourists, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has offered a free insurance service for foreign visitors that would cover all MERS-related medical and other costs. But businessmen feared that the effect of the virus on domestic consumption and tourism would persist.

　　“It’s fortunate that MERS is slowly subsiding,” Park Yong-maan, the chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said on Monday. “But the economic sentiment remains constricted.”