The World Bank said today that it expects the global economy to grow between 2.9% and 3.3% this year and in 2011 as developing countries lead the recovery from recession.
The World Bank's latest economic forecast showed the global economic recovery continued to make headway but Europe's debt crisis had created new challenges to sustainable medium-term growth.
The World Bank projected the expansion of global gross domestic product (GDP) - a broad measure of economic activity - to strengthen to a pace between 3.2% and 3.5% in 2012.
The growth would reverse the 2.1% decline in global output in 2009, the Washington-based development lender said.
Developing countries would be the main engine of the recovery, generating economic growth between 5.7% and 6.2% each year from 2010 to 2012, according to the bank's mid-year update. High-income countries were expected to be the main drag to recovery.
GDP in advanced economies was projected to grow by between 2.1-2.3% in 2010 - a modest pace that would not undo the 3.2% contraction expected in 2009, the bank said. Advanced economies then were poised to grow between 1.9- 2.4% in 2011.
'The better performance of developing countries in today's world of multipolar growth is reassuring,' Justin Lin, the World Bank's chief economist said. 'But, for the rebound to endure, high-income countries need to seize opportunities offered by stronger growth in developing countries,' he added.
