The well runs dry
Why borrowing in dollars is central to the business cycle in developing
countries
Mar 5th 2016 | From the print edition
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OIL PRICES have perked up a bit, but producers are still reeling from the
slump in crude prices last year. The boss of Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil
firm, said this week that the company faced a “liquidity crunch”. Malaysia’
s state oil firm is laying off workers. Petrobras, Brazil’s troubled oil
giant, recently secured a $10 billion loan from the China Development Bank to
help it to pay off maturing bonds. The trouble at these firms underlines
broader concerns about the burden of corporate debt in emerging markets. A
particular worry for resources firms is the rising cost of servicing dollar
debts taken out when the greenback was much weaker than it is now. Short-term
dollar loans to be repaid with earnings in falling currencies featured
prominently in past emerging-market crises. But the concern about the role of
dollar lending in the current cycle is different.
問題1)
黃色那句，說這些能源公司有一個很大的隱憂，是美元貸款的附付息壓力愈發龐大，可是
when the greenback was much weaker than it is now，是指美元愈強還是愈來愈弱?
這邊我看不太懂?
問題2)
這句話是說，「按過去的新興市場危機的主要現象，那些因為強勢美元而造成幣值大貶的國
家，必須要用他們自己賺的錢來償還短期債務」嗎?

1 "was"(過去) much weaker: 過去/之前「較弱」。這個"較弱"是和何時的美元價格比？-> 和「現在」(than it is(現在) now ...)的比。沒特別講"愈來愈"如何如何，所以不用去想"愈來愈xxx" 那麼「之前」是指什麼時候？當然是指那些國家取得貸款那一陣子(美元前些年貶值/美元被降等級) ... debts (that were) taken out when ...http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/take_1 找take somebody/something <-> out phrasal verb-> 2 ....2. 那些國家選擇用這貸款/懷債方式(趁美元貶值的時候撿便宜，先不去管之後還債成本增加--能拿到錢投資比較要緊)在去...是主要現象 --- 意思是這現象以前常有，不是現在才第一次出現或是一直很罕見[to be repaid ... currencies]修飾Short-term dollarloans，意思是說 [ ..(這種特定情況的).. ] short-termdollar loans featured prominently in .... (暫時借用中文語序 )