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IMF projects global growth at 4.3%
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-10-17 08:54
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projected global economic growth at 4.3
percent in both 2005 and 2006, its managing director Rodrigo de Rato said here
Saturday.
But he told a meeting attended by finance officials from 20 major developed
and developing nations that the IMF sees some significant risks that under
certain circumstances could increase the vulnerability of the global economy,
such as those stemming from higher oil prices, global imbalances and increased
protectionism in the world.
Oil producers can begin to increase investment in new facilities, while
oil-consuming countries need to start increasing refining capacity and to take
measures to curb oil demand, such asimproving conservation and energy
efficiency, Rato said.
He said imbalances among economies would pose serious risks to prosperity
because they were clearly unsustainable. He warned of the danger of a disorderly
way of correcting global imbalances through an abrupt decline in the US dollar
and a rise in US interest rates, and called for a stronger policy of all the big
economies to address the global imbalance.
In addressing the problem of increased protectionism in the world, Rato said
he would like to join the voices on the urgency of getting an agreement
regarding the multilateral liberalization of the world trade in the Hong Kong
meeting of the Doha round. He said that the proposals submitted recently by the
United States, the G-20, and the European Union looked promising as a good
starting point for a series of negotiations to take place before the end of
November.
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