没钱印钱了！世界最大的印钞厂发出破产警告？

日前，世界上最大的印钞厂德拉鲁（De La Rue）公司发出可能破产的警告。据了解，德拉鲁公司已成立198年，从1860年起就为英国央行印制钞票，印制世界上约1/3的钞票。

World's largest printer of money is running out of money

NBC NEWS

Despite the rise in digital payments, cash is still king in uncertain times — but who's going to print it?

In the United States, the task of printing money and minting coins falls to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, which is part of the Treasury Department. But in the United Kingdom, a private company prints the nation's bank notes and passports — and it is running short of cash.

mint

作动词，有“铸造（硬币）”的意思，英文解释为“to produce a coin for the government”；也有“创造（尤指新词语）”的意思，英文解释为“to produce something new, especially to invent a new phrase or word”，如：a freshly minted slogan/phrase 新想出的口号/新造的词语。

bank note

bank note/banknote，主要是英式说法，或者直接note，都可以表示“钞票，纸币”，英文解释为“a piece of printed paper that has a particular value as money”，如：a £20 banknote 一张20英镑的钞票；

美式常用bill，一样指“钞票，纸币”（a piece of paper money），如：a dollar/one-dollar bill 1美元的钞票。

De La Rue, which has printed banknotes for the Bank of England since 1860, and also prints currency for 140 other countries, last week issued a warning that there was “significant doubt” about its future.

相关词汇

· cash表示“现金；现款”（money in the form of notes and coins, rather than cheques or credit cards）。

· currency表示“货币，通货”，英文解释为“the money that is used in a particular country at a particular time”，如：foreign currency 外币；

此外currency还可以表示不可数名词“流行；流通；通用”（the state of being commonly known or accepted, or of being used in many places）举个🌰：

His ideas enjoyed wide currency during the last century.

他的思想在上个世纪广为流传。

· cheque表示“支票”（a printed form, used instead of money, to make payments from your bank account）。

It is the largest commercial printer in the world, produces passports for 40 countries, and has designed 36 percent of all banknote denominations in circulation, according to investment research company Edison Group.

Yet the company reported lackluster 2019-2020 half-year financial results, and has lost 20 percent of its value just in the past week.

denomination

denomination /dɪˌnɒmɪˈneɪʃən/ 表示“（尤指钱的）面值，面额”，英文解释为“a unit of value, especially of money”举个🌰：

It always takes time to get used to the different denominations of coins when you go to a foreign country.

到了国外，总要花些时间才能熟悉不同面额的硬币。

in circulation

in circulation/out of circulation表示“流通/停止流通”，英文解释为“If something such as money is in circulation, it is being used by the public. If something is out of circulation or has been withdrawn from circulation, it is no longer available for use by the public.”举个🌰：

The supply of money in circulation was drastically reduced overnight.

一夜之间流通货币的供应就急剧减少了。

lacklustre/lackluster

表示“缺乏生气的，懒洋洋的；无精打采的；无生气的”，英文解释为“without energy and effort”举个🌰：

Britain's number-one tennis player gave a disappointingly lacklustre performance.

英国头号网球选手死气沉沉的表现令人失望。

“There can be no denying that De La Rue’s finances look precarious," said Russ Mould, investment director at A.J. Bell.

Despite having major contracts, De La Rue has suffered two major setbacks in the past year that have thrown the company’s future into question. In 2018, De La Rue lost the contract to print the United Kingdom’s new blue passports after Brexit is completed. That contract went to Gemalto, a German company.

precarious

表示“（形势）不稳定的，不确定的，危险的”，英文解释为“A precarious situation is likely to get worse.”举个🌰：

Many borrowers now find themselves caught in a precarious financial position.

许多借款人现在发现自己陷入了不稳定的财务状况。

"With a contract value of approximately £260 million, this will deliver significant savings compared to the £400 million contract awarded in 2009 and provide value for money to the taxpayer,” the UK Passport Office said in a statement. The contract is also expected to create new jobs at Gemalto’s UK office.

savings

常用复数，表示“存款，储蓄金”，英文解释为“the money that you keep in an account in a bank or similar financial organization”举个🌰：

He spent all his savings on an expensive car.

他花了自己所有的存款买了一辆昂贵的汽车。

De La Rue also wrote off £18 million last year after Venezuela's central bank failed to pay the company for its services.

write off

1）表示“取消，勾销（债务）；注销，销记（账项、资产等）”，英文解释为“to accept that an amount of money has been lost or that a debt will not be paid”举个🌰：

The World Bank is being urged to write off debts from developing countries.

一些机构正敦促世界银行免除发展中国家的债务。

2）表示“把（车辆）毁坏，使（车辆）报废”，英文解释为“to damage a vehicle so badly that it cannot be repaired”举个🌰：

His car was completely written off in the accident.

他的车在事故中完全报废。

If De La Rue’s worst-case scenario were to play out next year, it would mark the end of a more-than-200-year run for the company and force the 140 countries it does business with to look to other commercial printers to produce their nation's currency.

play out

表示“发生；出现”，英文解释为“When a situation plays out, it happens and develops.”举个🌰：

The debate will play out in the media over the next week or two.

近一两个星期内，辩论将通过媒体播出。

De La Rue got its start printing currency in 1860, including £5, £1, and 10 shilling banknotes in color, for Mauritius. In 1862, the company won the contract for the only U.S. stamp ever printed abroad. The stamp, which was for the Confederate states, featured Jefferson Davis and was known as the “Five Cents Blue.” During World War II, the company printed currency for occupied allies, and hid it in a quarry until it could be picked up after the war ended.

shilling

表示“先令（英国1971年以前货币单位，一先令值12旧便士，20先令合一英镑）”，英文解释为“a British coin in use until 1971, worth 12 old pence. There were 20 shillings in one pound.”

注：Mauritius：an island country in the Indian Ocean （印度洋岛国）毛里求斯

quarry

表示“采石场”，英文解释为“a large artificial hole in the ground where stone, sand, etc. is dug for use as building material”，如：a granite/limestone/marble/slate quarry 花岗岩/石灰岩/大理石/板岩采石场。

Over the past few years, De La Rue has invested heavily in printing polymer banknotes, which are more difficult to forge and stay cleaner than traditional banknotes. De La Rue printed England’s first polymer banknote, the Sir Winston Churchill five-pound note, in September 2016.

polymer banknotes

polymer意思是“聚合物；多聚体”（a natural or artificial substance consisting of large molecules (= groups of atoms) that are made from combinations of small simple molecules），polymer banknotes为聚合物（塑料）制成的钞票，塑制钞票，塑料钞票。据百度百科，这些钞票由特制的塑质薄片制作，它可以使钞票流通时间增长且不至于撕裂或破损，而且可以使钞票难以复制。现在有许多国家或地区正在使用塑质钞票。

Polymer banknotes are banknotes made from a polymer such as biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP).

“It is possible that — in a very worst case — the government would find a friendly buyer, presumably a domestic one with security skills and existing links to the Ministry of Defense and Home Office," said Mould. “Hopefully, it won’t come to that and De La Rue has enough breathing space to trade through its current difficulties.”

breathing space

等同于breathing room，表示“休整时期；考虑的时间”，英文解释为“a period of rest in order to increase strength or give you more time to think about what to do next”举个🌰：

I wanted a little breathing space between jobs.

上一份工作结束后，我需要短暂休整一下再开始下一份工作。

Despite the rise in cashless payments, the market for cash is expected to continue to grow. The amount of banknotes in circulation is expected to increase annually between 3 percent and 4 percent, according to Edison, exceeding gross domestic product growth rates in most areas. The reason: In uncertain times, cash is still king.

积累：

gross domestic product, GDP 国内生产总值

cashless payments 无现金支付

digital payments 电子支付

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