The global economy is buoyant this year and may exceed its strong 2005 growth rate amid signs that corporate investment is rebounding, central bankers from major countries said today.
The surge in crude oil prices has failed to restrain economic output and central bank credibility in controlling price gains has kept inflation expectations low, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet told a news conference.
"The global economy proved very, very resilient in the eyes of governments and particularly resilient in the sharp run-up in energy prices," Mr Trichet said after a meeting of the G10 central bankers from the world's largest developed and emerging nations, which he chairs.
"There is a general confirmation among colleagues . . . that global growth is continuing at a pace which is dynamic, and we don't even exclude that global growth could be a little bit higher in 2006 in comparison with 2005," he said.
The central bankers did not discuss currencies during their assessment of the global economy and their view on the US yield curve was not that it had inverted. "I will only say that our observation was more flatness," he said.