Shrinking global economy headed for slow recovery next year: IMF

October 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - More than 80 percent of top US economists believe that America has started pulling out of its worst downturn since World War II, but they expect a slow and painful recovery, according to a new survey. Most economists agree the US recession that started almost two years ago is finally over, but they don't expect meaningful improvement in jobs, credit or housing for months to come, according to the survey by the National Association for Business Economics (NABE).

October 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US economy continued to shed jobs in the construction, manufacturing, retail and government branches, with the unemployment rate rising to 9.8 percent in September, the government said Friday. The rate compared to 9.7 percent unemployment in August, and was the highest since 1983.

October 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - As the world economy comes out of a deep global recession, global activity is forecast to expand by about 3 percent in 2010 after contracting by about 1 percent in 2009, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projections. Though well below the rates achieved before the crisis, these projections in the October 2009 World Economic Outlook (WEO) reflect modest upward revisions to those in the July 2009 WEO Update.

September 30th, 2009 Economic growth seen slowing by year's endWASHINGTON — The unfolding economic recovery will probably lose some momentum in the final three months of the year as rising unemployment and still hard-to-get credit weigh on consumers. The economy will grow at a pace of around 2.5 percent in the just-started October-December quarter, according to projections made by analysts at Wells Fargo, IHS Global Insight and Moody's Economy.com.

September 16th, 2009 Bank of Japan keeps key interest rate unchangedTOKYO — The Bank of Japan upgraded its assessment of the world's second-largest economy and held its key interest rate unchanged at a near-zero 0.1 percent Thursday as it tries to nurture a recovery. The unanimous and widely anticipated decision on the overnight call rate came at the end of the central bank's two-day policy board meeting.

September 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Tuesday that the worst US recession in seven decades has "very likely" come to an end, but warned the country's economy will remain weak for some time. The US central bank head said there was general agreement among economists that the United States would return to growth in the third quarter of this year and continue to pick up in 2010.

July 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US and China agreed to maintain aggressive measures to stimulate their economies until a global recovery takes hold, US officials said after talks with their Chinese counterparts Monday. Both countries have launched massive stimulus packages to keep their economies afloat during the global recession, and each was "grappling with the timing of the withdrawal", said David Lovinger, the US Treasury Department's senior coordinator for China affairs.

July 27th, 2009 China, US officials see global economic recoveryWASHINGTON — Top officials of the United States and China said Monday they saw hopeful signs that the global economy was beginning to move into a period of recovery. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said that the joint efforts of the nations to deal with the financial crisis with large stimulus programs marked a turning point in the relationship of the two economic superpowers.

July 8th, 2009 IMF expects slow recovery from global recessionWASHINGTON — The global economy is beginning a sluggish recovery from its worst recession since World War II, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday. The IMF increased its estimate for global economic growth in 2010 to 2.5 percent, from an April projection of 1.9 percent.

July 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The world is beginning to pull out of its first recession since World War II, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday. In an updated economic forecast, the IMF said the global economy was already stabilising, the financial crisis has eased and the recession will end in the second half of this year.

April 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - As some major economies begin to show signs of stabilising, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Thursday warned that any global recovery from the downturn could last more than three years. The IMF and its sister lending agency, the World Bank, have already predicted that 2009 will mark the first worldwide contraction since World War II.

March 31st, 2009 MANILA - Economic growth in developing Asia was expected to slow to its lowest rate in more than a decade due to the global economic crisis, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Tuesday. It predicted India's economic growth would be five percent in 2009.

March 16th, 2009 LONDON - The Indian economy will likely revive faster than other countries though it is difficult to predict when, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D. Subbarao said Sunday.

January 27th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The world economy will grow by only 0.5 percent in 2009, the worst rate since end of World War II, as industrial nations battle a severe recession that is dragging developing countries down with them, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday as it slashed its global economic forecasts. Wealthy nations will experience their worst recession in the post-war period, contracting 2 percent in 2009 despite massive fiscal stimulus packages planned by most of the world's richest countries.

January 7th, 2009 SINGAPORE - French bank BNP Paribas has predicted a faster Asian economic recovery next year, citing aggressive government spending and region-wide interest rate cuts, according to a news report Thursday. The scale of the global policy response, monetary and fiscal, should ensure the recovery is more V-shaped, indicating a steep rise after a decline, than a slower, U-shaped recovery, said BNP Paribas economist Richard Iley.