Ongoing global recovery faces two-speed growth, structural changes: IMF advisor
2011-03-09 17:06:30
The global economic recovery is gaining momentum, but is confronted with challenges including a two-speed recovery pace among emerging markets and advanced economies as well as underlying structural changes, Zhu Min, special advisor to the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said on Monday.
"The world is changing. Last year, emerging markets contributed about 70 percent to the world's new economic growth," Zhu said during a luncheon speech at the ongoing 27th annual National Association for Business Economics economic policy conference.
The IMF in January upwardly revised its projection of world output growth to 4.4 percent for this year, but warned that a two-speed recovery would continue. The latest world output forecast was 0.2 percentage points higher compared with the IMF's prediction in its World Economic Outlook report released in October 2010.
The IMF forecast that the output in advanced economies would gain 2.5 percent this year, 0.3 percentage points higher than its prediction in October 2010, while the output in developing economies would surge 6.5 percent this year, 0.1 percentage points higher than its earlier prediction.
Zhu noted that it was the first time for emerging markets to lead the global economic growth, with low unemployment rates, low budget deficits, high interest rates and robust economic growth on average, while some advanced economies were mired in high unemployment rates, high budget deficits, low interest rates and slow growth rates.
He told a group of economists and reporters that these structural changes have "profound impact" on the global economy, people's lives and the world's future.
Zhu stressed that the world should draw lessons from the financial crisis and endeavor to foster a balanced and sustainable economic growth, adding that the world was still looking for "a new model" of economic growth.
"The overall global economic growth looks good this year, with a lot of fundamental changes going on. Looking for a new growth model for the whole world is absolutely a big issue for everyone," he added.