ECB, IMF heads see 2010 recovery
Friday, 17 April 2009 19:00
The European Central Bank president has said the world economy faces a difficult year but will begin a recovery in 2010.
'Confidence today relies equally upon the audacity of our immediate decisions and upon the soundness of our exit strategies,' Jean-Claude Trichet said in a speech in Tokyo.
He added that the ECB would decide next month on non-conventional ways - other than interest rate cuts - to boost the economy.
In a speech in Washington, International Monetary Fund managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn also predicted a recovery in 2010 after the global economy moved through 'deeply negative territory' this year.
He said governments in advanced economies needed to fix their financial sectors by cleaning banks' balance sheets of toxic assets, and had to be careful not to withdraw their financial stimulus measures prematurely.
US Federal Reserve officials gave mixed signals yesterday, with the head of the Atlanta Fed forecasting a return to growth later this year, but the head of the San Francisco Fed warning of the potential for an even deeper contraction.
The Atlanta Fed's Dennis Lockhart told a conference in New York that the US recession would end by mid-year, with growth slowly picking up in the following months. But the San Francisco Fed's Janet Yellen said signs that some US indicators were stabilising did not mean that the economy was out of the woods.
- Business Today: Alan McQuaid of Bloxham Stockbrokers says the ECB has to make a decision on whether or not to start buying government bonds from euro zone members.
- One News: David Murphy, Business Correspondent, reports that the ECB's Jean Claude Trichet said the bank may use more than interest rates to boost the economy
