March 18, 2008	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 9, 1429

PARIS, March 17: Europe is not threatened by recession at the moment, but the IMF plans to cut its growth forecast for the region, the top International Monetary Fund official for Europe said on Monday.

Asked about the possibility of a recession in Europe caused by economic woes in the United States, the official, Michael Deppler, replied: “This is not going to be part of our forecast.”

The IMF is to release new economic forecasts in the coming weeks and Deppler said the figures for growth were “moving down” but not into negative territory.—AFP