Oil a risk to growth, says IMF boss

GLOBAL economic growth will stay above four percent this year, the head of the International Monetary Fund said, but he warned that the high price of oil posed an increasing risk to the outlook.

IMF managing director Rodrigo Rato also said fuel shortages following Hurricane Katrina had shown that the United States needed to raise its oil refining capacity in the long-term.

“World growth is clearly above four percent. The tendency will continue this year and next year,” he said after a one-day meeting with Asia-Pacific finance ministers and central bank governors on regional financial integration.