IMF Head Says Global Recovery Charging Ahead

Tokyo, Japan, Jan. 18, 2010--The global recovery is speeding ahead faster and stronger than expected, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, suggested Monday that the IMF would raise its 2010 global growth forecast from the 3.1 percent it forecast in October.

China, India and other emerging Asian economies were close to returning to their pre-crisis growth rates, while rebounds in the U.S., Japan and other advanced economies remained "sluggish," he said.

While hundreds of billions in stimulus spending by governments around the world avoided another Great Depression, he said, the most important risk facing the global economy is deciding how and when to reverse those polices and deal with resulting debt burdens.