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.
问题1)
黄色那句，说这些能源公司有一个很大的隐忧，是美元贷款的附付息压力愈发庞大，可是
when the greenback was much weaker than it is now，是指美元愈强还是愈来愈弱?
这边我看不太懂?
问题2)
这句话是说，“按过去的新兴市场危机的主要现象，那些因为强势美元而造成币值大贬的国
家，必须要用他们自己赚的钱来偿还短期债务”吗?

1 "was"(过去) much weaker: 过去/之前“较弱”。这个"较弱"是和何时的美元价格比？-> 和“现在”(than it is(现在) now ...)的比。没特别讲"愈来愈"如何如何，所以不用去想"愈来愈xxx" 那么“之前”是指什么时候？当然是指那些国家取得贷款那一阵子(美元前些年贬值/美元被降等级) ... debts (that were) taken out when ...http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/take_1 找take somebody/something <-> out phrasal verb-> 2 ....2. 那些国家选择用这贷款/怀债方式(趁美元贬值的时候捡便宜，先不去管之后还债成本增加--能拿到钱投资比较要紧)在去...是主要现象 --- 意思是这现象以前常有，不是现在才第一次出现或是一直很罕见[to be repaid ... currencies]修饰Short-term dollarloans，意思是说 [ ..(这种特定情况的).. ] short-termdollar loans featured prominently in .... (暂时借用中文语序 )