搶了幾個(gè)月廁紙以后，美國人總算不用搶廁紙了，然而又有一樣日常所需的東西因?yàn)槎倘倍黄认蘖颗浣o，把美國各地的銀行急得團(tuán)團(tuán)轉(zhuǎn)，那就是：硬幣。

Just as supplies of toilet paper are finally getting back to normal, the coronavirus has triggered another shortage of something we typically take for granted: pocket change.

就在衛(wèi)生紙供應(yīng)總算恢復(fù)正常時(shí)，新冠肺炎疫情卻引發(fā)了另一種我們想當(dāng)然的東西短缺：零錢。

Banks around the US are running low on nickels, dimes, quarters and even pennies. And the Federal Reserve, which supplies banks, has been forced to ration scarce supplies.

美國各地銀行的五分硬幣、十分硬幣、兩角五分硬幣甚至還有一分硬幣都出現(xiàn)短缺。給銀行供應(yīng)貨幣的美聯(lián)儲被迫限額配給稀缺硬幣。

"It was just a surprise," said Gay Dempsey, who runs the Bank of Lincoln County in Tennessee, when she learned of the rationing order. "Nobody was expecting it."

美國田納西州林肯縣銀行的行長蓋伊·鄧普賽聽說配額令后表示：“真是讓人驚訝。沒有人料到會這樣?！?/p>

Dempsey's bank typically dispenses 400 to 500 rolls of pennies each week. Under the rationing order, her allotment was cut down to just 100 rolls, with similar cutbacks in nickels, dimes and quarters.

鄧普賽的銀行通常每周要發(fā)放400到500卷一分硬幣。在配額令下，她分配到的一分硬幣降到只有100卷，分配到的五分硬幣、十分硬幣和兩角五分硬幣也同樣減少了。

That spells trouble for Dempsey's business customers, who need the coins to stock cash registers all around Lincoln County, Tenn.

這對鄧普賽的企業(yè)客戶來說意味著麻煩，這些企業(yè)客戶需要硬幣來裝滿田納西州林肯縣各地店鋪的現(xiàn)金出納機(jī)。

"You think about all your grocery stores and convenience stores and a lot of people that still operate with cash," Dempsey said. "They have to have that just to make change."

鄧普賽說：“想想所有的雜貨店和便利店，還有許多仍然用現(xiàn)金交易的人們。他們需要有硬幣才能找錢?！?/p>

Rural banks in particular seem to be getting shortchanged, according to Colin Barrett, CEO of the Tennessee Bankers Association.

田納西州銀行家協(xié)會的首席執(zhí)行官科林·巴瑞特說，鄉(xiāng)村銀行似乎尤其缺少零錢。

Rep. John Rose, R-Tenn., sounded the alarm last week during a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee.

上周田納西州共和黨參議員約翰·羅斯在眾議院金融服務(wù)委員會的一次聽證會上敲響了警鐘。

"My fear is that customers who use these banks will react very poorly," Rose said. "And I know that we all don't want to wake up to headlines in the near future such as 'Banks Out of Money.' "

“我擔(dān)心的是，這些銀行的客戶反應(yīng)會很糟。我知道，大家都不想在不久的將來一早醒來，看到‘銀行沒錢了’這種頭條新聞。”

The congressman warned that if businesses are unable to make exact change, they'll be forced to round up or round down, "in a time when pennies are the difference between profitability and loss."

這位參議員警告稱，如果企業(yè)無法精確找零，他們將被迫四舍五入，“這可是一個(gè)零頭能決定盈利還是虧損的時(shí)刻?！?/p>

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell assured Rose that the central bank is monitoring the situation closely.

美聯(lián)儲主席杰羅米·鮑威爾向羅斯保證，他表示央行正密切監(jiān)控這個(gè)局面。

"We're working with the mint to increase supply, and we're working with the reserve banks to get that supply where it needs to be," Powell said. "So we think it's a temporary situation."

“我們正在和造幣廠合作增加供應(yīng)，也在和聯(lián)邦儲備銀行合作，向需要的地方供應(yīng)硬幣。所以我們認(rèn)為這是個(gè)暫時(shí)的情況?！?/p>

The US Mint produced fewer coins than usual this spring in an effort to protect employees from infection. But the larger problem — as with many other pandemic shortages — is distribution.

為了保護(hù)員工不被病毒感染，美國造幣廠今年春天生產(chǎn)的硬幣比往常少。但是和疫情引發(fā)的許多其他短缺一樣，發(fā)放才是更大的問題。

During the lockdown, many automatic coin-sorting machines that people typically use to cash in loose change were off-limits. And with many businesses closed, unused coins piled up in darkened cash drawers, in pants pockets and on nightstands, even as banks went begging.

在封鎖期間，許多人們通常用來換零錢的硬幣自動分類機(jī)被禁止使用。由于許多商店都關(guān)門了，大量閑置的硬幣堆在黑暗的現(xiàn)金抽屜、褲子口袋和床頭柜里，而銀行卻在四處討要硬幣。

nightstand[?na?tst?nd]: n. 床頭幾，床頭柜

"The flow of coins through the economy ... kind of stopped," Powell said.

鮑威爾說：“貫穿經(jīng)濟(jì)的硬幣流通……幾乎停止了?！?/p>

The Fed chairman stressed that this clog in the financial plumbing should clear quickly, now that businesses are reopening, and that supplies of coins should soon be back to normal.

鮑威爾強(qiáng)調(diào)，如今企業(yè)正在重新開放，堵住的金融管道應(yīng)該迅速清理，硬幣的供應(yīng)應(yīng)該迅速回歸正常。

In the meantime, Dempsey, the banker, has secured an emergency stash of coins from some of her business customers who run vending machines and laundromats.

與此同時(shí)，銀行行長鄧普賽已經(jīng)從一些經(jīng)營自動售貨機(jī)和自助洗衣店的企業(yè)客戶那里獲得了一筆硬幣存貨來應(yīng)急。

While a growing number of people rely on credit cards or smartphone apps for many transactions today, the coin crunch is a reminder that sometimes you just need change.

盡管越來越多的人依賴信用卡或智能手機(jī)應(yīng)用來交易，這次硬幣告急提醒了人們，有時(shí)候你還是需要零錢。

"Cash is still king, I guess," Dempsey mused.

“現(xiàn)金仍然為王，我想，”鄧普賽沉思著說。

英文來源：美國國家公共電臺

翻譯&編輯：丹妮