BASEL, Switzerland (MNI) – The recovery of the world economy is
confirmed to the point that one can even speak of acceleration, European
Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet asserted Monday afternoon.

Speaking in his capacity as chairman of the bi-monthly Global
Economy Meeting held at the Bank for International Settlements, Trichet
said that the main observation of meeting participants was “that we have
the feeling that the global recovery is not only confirmed, but has some
elements at a global level of acceleration.”

Particularly data from the emerging world have been better than
expected, he continued. “So the sentiment is that because of this
confirmation, and more than confirmation … we have then a global
recovery which is presenting features that would permit to qualify it as
self-sustaining.”

“I remain prudent, I remain cautious, and we know that we could
always have surprises and there are risks,” he said. As well, there are
clearly differences in the pace of the recovery across regions, so that
one can speak of a “multi-speed” recovery, he said.

“Another feature that is certainly one of importance at this stage
is the fact that … we have a number of economies where clearly we see
that the risk for inflation are on the upside,” he said.

“That is not surprisingly the case where growth is particularly
active and buoyant,” he elaborated. “You have other parts of the global
economy where that risk is not materializing at all,” in particular the
industrialized economies.

Central bankers gathered here “consider that this is no time for
complacency in any part of the world … and that the solid anchoring of
inflation expectation is … a concept to which we are all very
attached,” he said.

Although there are both upside and downside risks to growth, the
economic expansion at a global level “looks more and more
self-sustainable,” he said, while “the risks … of some kind of
double-dip is less and less important.”

The “positive signals” seen at a global level are also evident in
the Eurozone, according to Trichet, who predicted average euro area
growth this year — “which remains modest” — in line with forecasts by
international institutions.

–Frankfurt bureau tel.: +49-69 720142. Email: dbarwick@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: M$$CR$,MGX$$$,MT$$$$,M$$EC$,M$X$$$]