Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Rodrigo de Rato on Thursday expressed his optimism about growth prospects of the global economy.

"The global economy has been resilient in the past year, and growth prospects are still very good," Rato told a news conference here.

In the Untied States, the pace of expansion is moderating, largely reflecting the slowdown in the housing market. But elsewhere in the world, growth prospects are encouraging, he said.

"Europe has been above most people's expectations. Japan appears to have put deflation behind it. China and India continue to grow strongly."

"Many other countries, including in sub-Saharan Africa, are enjoying a continuation of the strong growth that we saw last year," the IMF chief said.

Nonetheless, "there are more clouds on the horizon than there were a year ago: inflation risks are a concern, high oil prices could adversely affect both inflation and growth, and there has been a major setback in the Doha Round of trade talks. And, of course, global economic imbalances remain large."

The IMF and World Bank will be holding their annual meetings on September 19-20 in Singapore. Rato gave a briefing on the agenda for the meetings.

Source: Xinhua