The global economic recovery is on track, despite high oil prices according to the heads of central banks from the top industrial nations and developing countries

The global economic recovery is on track, despite high oil prices according to the heads of central banks from the top industrial nations and developing countries. Meeting in Basel, Switzerland the financial policymakers from the Group of 10 concluded recent mixed economic signals are merely a pause in robust world growth. The European Central Bank President Jean Claude Trichet said they are confident the recovery is confirmed and inflation expectations are on track. The predictions for the euro zone remain relatively low however with growth expected to be around 2% for this year with Japan at 3.4% and the US at 4.6%. The banker's confidence comes even as momentum in the world's three largest economic regions slowed in the second quarter of 2004. Trichet said the central bankers agreed high oil prices were having less of an impact on the global economy than previous oil shocks, but they still want to see lower prices. And he pointed out that a large part of recent oil price rises is due to higher demand and thus in fact reflects the economic recovery. The IMF is expected to revise upwards its 2004 global growth forecasts in the near future to 4.6, its highest level in a decade.