Finance ministers from around the world are gathering in Washington for the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Our economic correspondent Barry Wood reports policy makers are confronting the twin problems of slowing world growth and rising inflation.
With world economic growth already slowing to its weakest pace in five years, there is worry that the financial crisis that started with defaults in the U.S. home mortgage market last August could worsen. IMF economists call the current credit squeeze the worst financial crisis since the great depression hit the United States in the 1930s.
IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn says that in addition to a slowdown, many countries are confronting sharply higher prices, particularly for oil and foodstuffs. He says policy makers face difficult choices.
"Policy makers have to choose," he said. "The answer cannot be the same for everyone, since in some parts of the world the problem is more economic slowdown. And in some other parts of the world the problem may be more the risks of inflation."
World Bank President Robert Zoellick says that for many developing countries rising food prices are imposing sudden and painful cutbacks.
"In just two months rice prices have skyrocketed to near historical levels, rising by about 75 percent globally and more in some markets, with more likely to come," he said. "In Bangladesh a two-kilogram bag of rice like this [holds up bag at press conference] now consumes about half of the daily income of a poor family."
In addition, says Zoellick, wheat prices have risen by 120 percent in the past year. Oil prices, which were projected to decline after the Iraq war, have instead risen by 400 percent in the past five years.
Inflation, the economic slowdown and the continuing credit squeeze will be the main topics for multiple meetings of economic policymakers beginning Friday. While no solutions are expected, ministers will be examining economic data, looking for clues as the likely direction of both economic growth and inflationary pressure.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who will chair a meeting of finance ministers from seven of the world's wealthiest countries, said Thursday that the U.S. economy has turned down sharply and could weaken further. Many economists say the U.S. economy has already entered its first recession since the short and subdued downturn of 2001.
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这个周末，来自世界各国的财政部长和中央银行行长将在华盛顿出席国际货币基金组织和世界银行的春季会议。这些金融政策的制定者们面临着全球经济增长减速和通货膨胀上扬的双重问题。
世界经济发展已经减缓到了5年来的最低速度，与此同时，人们担心美国房地产市场滑坡和信贷紧缩引起的金融危机有可能恶化。国际货币基金组织的经济学家指出，目前的信贷紧缩是上个世纪30年代美国发生经济大萧条以来最严重的金融危机。
国际货币基金组织总裁卡恩说，除了经济走缓以外，很多国家都正在受到通货膨胀的冲击，尤其是能源和食品价格暴涨。他指出，各国的金融官员都面对着困难的抉择。
卡恩说：“决策者不得不做出选择。对于每个人来说，答案都不会一样，因为在世界某些地区，经济减速的问题较为严重，而在另外一些地区，通货膨胀的风险更大。”
世界银行行长佐立克说，对于很多发展中国家来说，飙升的粮价使他们感到措手不及，难以应对。
他说：“仅仅两个月，全球的大米价格就上涨了大约75%，接近历史记录，有的市场上涨幅度更大，而且今后的上涨趋势不减。在孟加拉国，一袋两公斤的大米现在就要花掉贫困家庭一天收入的一半。”
此外，佐立克说，过去一年来，小麦的价格上涨了120%。人们原来以为伊拉克战争后石油价格会下降，可是实际上油价却在过去5年中猛涨了400%。
预计，通货膨胀，经济放缓，日趋恶化的信贷紧缩将是星期五举行的工业化七国集团财长会议的主要议题。虽然预计会议不会拿出任何灵丹妙药，但各国的财政部长们还是会研究经济数据，想方设法找到经济增长和通货膨胀今后的走向。
星期五将主持世界上最富有的七个国家的财政部长会议的美国财政部长保尔森表示，美国经济出现了急剧下滑而且可能会进一步走软。很多经济学家说，美国经济已经进入了自从2001年出现短暂下滑之后的第一个衰退。
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