Activity Read the information given in A, B, c sections and translate words and word combinations

Unit: Central banking (The Bank of England)
Warm up

• 
  What are the functions of a central bank?
  
• 
  How can the actions of a central bank affect individuals as well as companies?
  

Activity 1.
A.Which of the following would you expect a central bank to do? Mark them A = always, S = sometimes, or N = never.

1. 
   act as banker to the government and the commercial banks
   
2. 
   attempt to influence the exchange rate
   
3. 
   clear cheques between commercial banks
   
4. 
   decide the country’s minimum interest rate
   
5. 
   decide all of a country’s interest rates
   
6. 
   issue banknotes
   
7. 
   issue securities for companies
   
8. 
   issue securities for the government
   
9. 
   keep minimum deposits of commercial banks’ reserves
   
10. 
    lend money to banks in difficulty
    
11. 
    lend money to small businesses
    
12. 
    maintain financial stability
    
13. 
    manage reserves of gold and foreign currencies
    
14. 
    manage the assets of wealthy individuals
    
15. 
    publish monetary and banking statistics
    
16. 
    supervise the banking system
    

B.You are going to read about the major functions of the Bank of England. Before you read, check your understanding of the words (1-9) below by matching them with their definitions (a-i).

1. 
   policy a a level or situation which you intend to achieve
   
2. 
   threats b a general, continuous increase in prices
   
3. 
   oversight c an agreed plan of what to do
   
4. 
   target d basic and most important
   
5. 
   core (adjective) e in good condition
   
6. 
   sound (adjective) f paid
   
7. 
   sterling g potential source of danger supervision
   
8. 
   inflation h supervision
   
9. 
   remunerated i the name of the British currency