IMF says recession threat over

AN upbeat International Monetary Fund has said the global economy has avoided recession and is on the road to recovery.

Announcing that the IMF's growth forecasts would be lifted at its spring meetings in Washington next month, managing director Horst Köhler said: 'The overall picture is one of recovery. We expect that the US will significantly improve in its economic activity in the first half and that in the second half it will significantly gain strength.'

However, he warned that the recovery in Europe would be later and weaker.

The IMF's existing forecasts, published in December, predicted that the global economy would expand by 2.4% this year - the weakest growth since 1993.