The global economy's expansion remains broadly on track this year and in 2006 although risks are still slanted to the downside, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday.

In its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) report released before the 2005 annual meeting of the World Bank and the IMF, the IMF said the world economy will increase by 4.3 percent this year and in 2006, largely unchanged from the prediction in the last WEO report released in April.

The expansion has continued to be led by the United States and China, where the growth momentum has remained robust, the report said. However, growth projections for 2005 in most other regions except Japan have been marked downward with renewed weakness in the euro area.

The US economy will increase 3.5 percent this year and slow down to 3.3 percent next year and the solid gain will be underpinned by strong income growth and steady improvement in the labor market, supportive financial market and rising house prices.

The economic growth in the euro area will be 1.2 percent in 2005 and 1.8 percent next year, compared with 2 percent in the 2004. And the Japanese economy will increase 2 percent in both 2005 and 2006 following a gain of 2.7 percent last year.

In Latin America, growth has moderated to a more sustainable pace after a sharp rebound in 2004. The growth will slow down to 4.1 percent in 2005 and 3.8 percent next year, the report said.

Economy in the Commonwealth of Independent States will increase 6 percent this year and slow down slightly to 5.7 percent next year. The economic growth in central and eastern Europe will be 4.3 percent in 2005 and 4.6 percent next year.

The Middle East countries will see an economic growth of 5.4 percent in 2005 and 5 percent in 2006. Economy in sub-Sahara African countries also will slow down to 4.8 percent in 2005 and 5.9 percent next year compared to the 5.4 percent last year.

Source: Xinhua