Doomsayers warned the world’s second-largest economy was on the verge of collapse (= decline or in decline)/on the brink/border of a 1930s-style Great Depression.
For fear of facing a 1930s-style depression, fast-paced economic reforms on a massive scale are underway. With notable success, Japan has been able to reinvigorate its economy not by adopting a wait-and-see attitude but by making the revitalization of economic life a top priority. This approach was the result of the far-sighted vision of Japanese policy-makers who assert that if the economic rate begins to slacken, it is because they have failed to come up with a very well-crafted program that would make it rise at an accelerating pace. When conditions deteriorate, the government could be dismissed and the parliament dissolved.
The Asian economic slowndown has already hit the lower strata of society. Escalating prices for essential goods skyrocketed and fuel prices increased alarmingly which gave rise to discontent and stirred social unrest. As the cost of living is on a steady rise, the purchasing power erodes. The currency debacle caused large-scale/massive lay-offs in critical industries. To rescue crisis-hit economies, governments, as a last-ditch effort, should reduce the appetite for imports, create joint-stock (as opposed to stand-alone) companies extend credit to small and medium enterprises through financing companies, and regulate their unbridled dealings with the outside world.
Economic stability stems mainly from sound planning for firm development, financial reform, economic liberalisation and the acceleration of privatisation.
يـنـشـأ الاسـتـقـرار الاقـتـصـادي أسـاسـاً مـن الـتـخـطـيـط الـمـحـكـم لـتـطـويـر الـشـركـات، و الإصـلاح الـمـالـي، و تـحـريـر الاقـتـصـاد و تـسـريـع عـمـلـيـة الـخـوصـصـة.
The government sold off part of its stake.
بـاعـت الـحـكـومـة جـزءاً مـن حـصـتـهـا.
To part-privatise sth.
يـخـوصـص جـزءاً مـن…
To revive a crippled economy, experts in economic forecasts are saddled with the task of cooking up ideas that would offer hope for an immediate recovery even if this may shove their country towards austerity.
Such protectionist policies as imposing (non)-tariff barriers on imported goods, boosting exports (an export-driven economy), divesting part of the state’s equity to the private sector are plans worked out by specialists to significantly narrow down the differences between inflation and the fast-swelling national debt.