The world economy is likely to grow by a 12-year high of 4.7 percent in 2000 but significant risks and uncertainties remain, including the shaky recovery in Japan, large trade deficits in the United States and surging oil prices, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a report issued Tuesday.
The IMF's semiannual World Economic Outlook report revised upward its estimate for world real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for calendar 2000 to 4.7 percent from 4.2 percent forecast in April, and to 4.2 percent in 2001 from the previously estimated 3.9 percent. In 1999, global GDP expanded by 3.4 percent, the IMF said.
The estimated growth for this year is the largest since an identical increase in 1988.
"This improvement has been led by the continued strength of the U.S. economy, a robust expansion in Europe, and a nascent -- albeit still fragile -- recovery in Japan," the report said.