IMF Revises 2010 Global Growth Upwards

SAO PAULO, - The International Monetary Fund will increase its forecast for global growth next year, in the next few days, to account for a faster recovery in major economies its deputy director said on Monday.

The IMF will raise its forecast for 2010 global growthfrom 2.5% to about 3 percent, said Murilo Portugal, the fund's deputy managing director. The revised forecast could come as soon as Tuesday.

"The recovery is stronger than initially forecast," Portugal, a former deputy finance minister in Brazil, told journalists on the sidelines of a business seminar.

Portugal, without giving detailed forcasts, said Brazil's economy, the largest in Latin America, should grow more than the global average.

In a weekly central bank survey released on Monday economists increased their forecast for gross domestic product growth in Brazil from 4.2% a week earlier to 4.5 % for 2010.