IMF chief says US may exceed growth forecast

March 09, 2012 | 15:07

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IMF chief Christine Lagarde said the United States may exceed a previous forecast of 1.8 per cent growth as the recovery picks up speed, but that the country still faces long-term challenges.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde (pictured in February) said the United States may exceed a previous forecast of 1.8 percent growth as the recovery picks up speed, but that the country still faces long-term challenges.

"We'll be releasing new forecasts in about a month's time. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was upward compared with our previous forecast of 1.8," Lagarde told US public television's Charlie Rose in an interview late Thursday.

She added that the "recovery is picking up" following the 2008 economic crisis but that Washington at some point will have to address the "long-term issues of the deficit and the debt."

She went on to praise the US Federal Reserve for announcing in January that it would keep interest rates close to zero for another three years.

Later on Thursday, addressing a women's conference in New York, Lagarde said: "I doubt I might have to put together a bailout for the US," adding: "I'll never have enough money to do it."

AFP

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