The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, says the global economy is improving and "moving into a strengthening phase." The assessment came Saturday after several days of talks in Washington at the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.Economic officials pledged to work for faster economic growth to help alleviate high unemployment in some nations. Officials also expressed concern that very low inflation may pose a risk for some advanced economies, including Europe where the rate is just one-half of one percent. Many experts say keeping inflation a little below two percent a year helps economies. The head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, says ECB officials may try to push the European inflation rate up slightly by doing more to simulate the economy. European inflation has been pushed down by the growing strength of the euro. A strong currency weakens inflation by cutting the costs of imported goods. But a strong euro could also hurt European exports by making them more expensive on world markets. [Read More]

—–
Source: VOA News: Economy and Finance