IMF ups 2010 world economic growth forecast to 4.1 per cent

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised its estimates of world economic growth further to 4.1 per cent, from the 3.9 per cent projected in January. The January forecast itself represented an upward revision of 0.75 percentage points from the October 2009 World Economic Outlook.
 
The world economy could grow 4.1 per cent this year, 0.2 percentage points more than previously forecast, the IMF said in the latest draft of its World Economic Outlook, Italian news agency ANSA reported today.

With economic activity in the developed world expected to be relatively vigorous, largely driven by buoyant internal demand, IMF expects recovery to be faster.

However, it wants a rebalancing of policies in many emerging and developing economies to foster global demand and support recoveries where it is not yet well sustained.

IMF has projected a 3.0 per cent growth in the US economy against the previous forecast of 2.7 per cent in its January report.

The IMF draft has, however, revised euro zone growth to 0.8 per cent, down 0.1 percentage point from the January estimate of 0.9 per cent. In 2011, the figure is seen at 1.5 per cent, also down 0.1 points.

IMF expects a slower recovery in Europe as it "is coming out of recession more slowly than other regions," pulled down by laggards like Greece and Italy.