India's financial sector is in trouble, and the contagion is starting to bite in the real economy.

使得印度金融部門陷入困境，進而對整體經濟體系造成負面影響。

So what is going wrong with India's lenders, and just how deep do the problems go?

究竟放款的一方出現了什麼問題，而這個問題又會發展至何種程度？

India's economy has long depended on state-run banks.

長久以來，印度經濟都是仰賴國有銀行的支撐。

But poor governance and cosy relationships with powerful tycoons helped to contribute to a credit crunch, meaning borrowers had to find new sources of money.

但是，不健全的管理制度以及銀行與財團間密切的關係造成了信貸緊縮，借款人需另求新的資金來源。

So-called shadow banks sprung up, but these less-regulated lenders gave out yet more risky loans, especially to the real estate sector.

因此，「影子銀行」便如雨後春筍般湧現，但這些不受監管的銀行所提供的貸款服務卻增加了不動產產業的風險。

Last month, the previously obscure Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank was taken over by authorities, its top executives arrested after they engaged in heavy lending to a single property company.

上個月，印度合作銀行 (PMC) 的管理階層因涉及作假帳而遭逮捕，PMC 便轉由央行接手管理。

About 1.5 million account holders had access to their savings restricted.

大約有一百五十萬人的存款帳戶受到波及。

Panic ensued, with customers demanding their money back.

此次事件引發民眾恐慌，大家都急著提領存款。

Rumours of further closures spread like wildfire, and the country's central bank took to Twitter to reassure the public.

關於銀行倒閉的傳聞如野火般持續延燒，印度央行逼不得已在推特上發文要民眾放心。

The run on PMC happened almost exactly a year after the collapse of IL&FS, a huge shadow lender.

而這次 PMC 接管事件發生的時間點，恰好是印度的影子銀行巨擘－基礎設施租賃與金融服務公司 (IL&FS) 面臨破產滿一週年。

That was portrayed at the time as a one-off event, but economic growth has since slowed to a six-year low,

IL&FS 破產雖然被認為只是一次性事件，但從那時開始，印度的經濟成長率開始走下坡，甚至創六年來新低。

And investors fear more lenders will go bust.

而越來越多投資人開始擔心金融機構等放款方將會面臨破產危機。

Loans are now much harder to come by, businesses find it hard to expand, and consumers are struggling to get loans for houses or even motorcycles.

貸款申請變得越來越困難，這讓當地企業因缺乏資金而難以擴張，也使得民眾無力購買房子和汽機車等等。

Big shadow banks have seen their share prices plummet, while traditional banks are still struggling to recover a year's worth of unpaid loans.

大型影子銀行的股價慘跌，而一般銀行也面臨無法順利回收欠款資金的難題。

If more lenders go bust, it could create a domino effect and spread like a virus through the wider economy.

如果破產的金融機構越來越多的話，將會引發骨牌效應，使得經濟危機像病毒般蔓延至整個印度社會。

Economists say they see echoes of the chain of events that led to the US financial crisis, as once high-flying lenders succumbed to the pressure of bad debt.

經濟學家表示，這一連串的連鎖效應是起於金融機構不斷放款給信用等級較差的人，而這也是當年引爆美國次貸危機的主因。

And they're worried India's economy could now face a reckoning of its own.

他們擔心印度的經濟正步向美國次級房貸危機的後塵。