国际货币基金组织说，飞涨的食品和燃料价格不会像官员起初担心的那样损害全球经济。星期四修正的全球经济展望自从2007年7月以来第一次调高了经济增长预测。仅在今年4月，国际货币基金组织还警告说，出现全球经济衰退的可能性为25%。
IMF官员说，目前仍有通货膨胀的威胁，这已成为工业大国和新型经济体的重大担心。世界各国政府一直在努力紧缩财政政策以遏制上涨的消费品价格，其中粮食和燃料价格上涨幅度最大。
The International Monetary Fund says soaring food and fuel prices will not hurt the global economy as much as officials initially feared. Today’s (Thursday’s) revised World Economic Outlook raises the IMF’s growth forecast for the first time since July 2007. Just this past April, the IMF had warned there was a 25-percent chance of a global recession.
IMF officials say there is still a threat from inflation, which has become a big concern for both major industrial powers and emerging economies. Governments around the world have been tightening fiscal policies to fight rising consumer prices, which have been led by soaring food and fuel costs.