The global economy is turning the corner towards recovery, pushed forward by brightening US prospects, the world's top policymakers said today.
"I think we have to state that the global economy is still weak but we also now hope - and I call it cautious optimism - that really a recovery is underway," International Monetary Fund managing director Mr Horst Koehler said at the World Economic Forum in New York.
There was a risk, he told a panel discussion, of the US economy falling back into negative growth after pulling out of the recession - a so-called double dip. The US recession officially began in March last year.
US Deputy Secretary of the Treasury, Mr Kenneth Dam, said the latest figures showed the downturn in the US economy had bottomed out.
The US Department of Labour reported yesterday that the unemployment rate dropped unexpectedly to 5.6 per cent in January from 5.8 per cent in December.
Total non-farm payroll employment fell by 89,000 in January from December, the smallest decline in non-farm payroll employment since August.
However Mr Dam said the risks of another terrorist attack remained and that an attack could affect the economic turnaround.
Mr Koehler stressed the world economy had proved itself to be better able to withstand the shock of the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York and Washington than some people had feared.
French Finance and Economy Minister Mr Laurent Fabius said the slowdown had been synchronised worldwide.
"My guess is that if we are approaching a recovery, and I think we are, it is very likely that this recovery will be synchronised," he said.
But all could be lost, Mr Fabius warned the perspectives for the global economy could be destroyed if terrorism continues.
AFP