Global economic growth is moderating but the expansion has remained broadly on track since the autumn of 2004, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.

In its semi-annual World Economic Outlook released before the joint spring meeting of the IMF and the World Bank, the IMF said the world economy has moderated since early last year accompanied by a significant slowdown in industrial production and global trade, reflecting both a return to a more sustainable pace of expansion and the adverse impact of higher oil prices.

Meanwhile, most recent data are suggesting that this slowdown has begun to bottom out, said the report, noting forward-looking indicators appear consistent with solid expansion in 2005 despite rising oil prices.

The report predicted that global gross domestic products (GDP) will be 4.3 percent in 2005 and 2006, about a 0.8 percentage point slower than that in 2004.

It said the US economy has continued to grow at or above trend driven by strong domestic demand. The US economy will go up 3.6 percent both in 2005 and in 2006, compared with 4.4 percent in 2004.

However, growth in most other industrial nations has fallen short of expectation, said the report.

In the euro area, the GDP growth slowed markedly in the second half of 2004 and the growth in the area will be only 1.6 percent this year following an increase of 2.0 percent in 2004, said the report. It will speed up to 2.3 percent in 2006.

Japanese economic gain has also stalled since the second quarter of 2004, and the growth will slow sharply this year to 0.8 percent from 2.6 percent in 2004 and is expected to recover to 1.9 percent in next year.

The report said the GDP growth in most Asian emerging countries in 2004 exceeded expectations and the strong growth will continue in 2005. The report predicts that the growth rate will be 7.4 percent in 2005 and 7.1 percent in 2006, slower than 8.2 percent last year.