June 6, 2002	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 24,1423

WASHINGTON, June 5: The head of the IIMF said on Tuesday that the global economic recovery was firmly under way, but that stock markets will remain volatile in the coming weeks and months.

Speaking in an interview with Reuters, IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler said it would be premature to assume that the recent decline of the US dollar would continue, saying that economic growth prospects in the United States remain better than those in Europe.

“We think that the recovery is underway, it is particularly underway in the US and it will gain strength in the second half of this year,” Koehler said, noting there remain, “Question marks about the strength and durability of this recovery.”

Koehler declined to say whether the IMF has changed its forecast for global growth of 2.8pc for this year and 4.0pc next year. He said, however, “If there is a tendency toward reviewing our forecasts then there would be more of a tendency to review it upwards.”

While the global economic outlook has improved, Koehler said political uncertainties, notably heightened tensions in the Middle East and the possibility of war between India and Pakistan, have “intensified.”—Reuters