IMF-World Bank annual meetings start
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A sustainable world economic recovery and global financial stability were among the main topics as the world's finance heavyweights gathered in Washington on Friday for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank annual meetings.
The international community must make concerted efforts to reduce negative spillovers and lay the foundation for a sustainable future global growth, said Olusegun Olutoyin Aganga, chairman of the annual meetings.
The annual meetings are scheduled to run in Washington D.C. from Oct. 8 to 10.
Participants will join an array of meetings and seminars on topics including managing capital flows, expanding housing finance, jumpstarting jobs and productivity in an uncertain world, and securing a robust global recovery.
The meetings serve as good platforms for member economies to enhance dialogue and cooperation, said Olusegun Olutoyin Aganga, also finance minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said: "We are gathering when the world is facing a very uncertain future. Growth is coming back, but the pace is uneven." He added that growth in Asia and some other emerging economies are fast, but the recoveries in Europe and the United States are sluggish.
The possibility of a "double-dip recession" was slim, but the downside risk remained elevated, the IMF chief said.
"Working together is a win-win" practice, said Strauss-Kahn, adding that the world faces severe challenges from spiking public debts, sagging job markets in some advanced economies, pressing financial sector reforms and a decreasing global willingness to tide over the economic downturn in joint hands currently.
"We need recovery, but we need a growth with jobs and changes in the financial reform, a fiscally-healthy growth," Strauss-Kahn noted.
The global recovery is under way, but "not strong enough to cut deeply into unemployment and it is a fragile one," said World Bank Group President Robert B. Zoellick.
"World collaboration to cope with global challenges is critical. We are moving into a world of multi-polar growth, with developing countries becoming an increasingly important engine for global growth," Zoellick added.
The World Bank chief stressed the importance of multi-polar knowledge in the new multi-polar economy, adding that his Washington-based agency is beefing up efforts in sharing expertise and spreading innovation globally with the help of new technology and tools.
Growth in the advanced economies is expected to expand by 2.7 percent this year, and by 2.2 percent in 2011, following a decline in output of 3.2 percent in 2009. Growth in emerging and developing economies is projected to be over 7.1 percent this year and 6.4 percent in 2011, following a modest 2.5-percent gain in 2009, the IMF predicted in its latest World Economic Outlook report released earlier this week.
The world economy, led by emerging markets and developing countries, is forecast to grow by 4.8 percent in 2010 before falling back to 4.2 percent next year, according to the report.
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