IMF says global economy set to beat forecasts

[papau]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1504&ncid=1504&e=7&u=/afp/20040121/ts_afp/imf_economy_040121175946

IMF says global economy set to beat forecasts

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The world economy is expanding faster than previously expected, top International Monetary Fund official Anne Krueger said in a prepared speech. <snip>

In its latest official forecast in September, the IMF predicted world economic growth of 4.1 percent for 2004, following an expected 3.2-percent expansion in 2003. <snip>


"A worldwide slide back to protectionism at this juncture would represent a setback nobody wants to contemplate," Krueger warned. "It would harm the prospects for future economic growth in all countries and could even undermine what has already been achieved. It is hard to see how anyone could gain from that in the long run."
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