Feb. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Group of 20 policy makers, at odds over smoothing over global economic imbalances, confront a new threat as higher inflation ripples from emerging markets to advanced economies.
A report of greater-than-expected U.S. inflation yesterday followed a jump in the European cost-of-living index to a two- year high and a pickup in Chinese prices, further fraying a tentative global consensus over how to sustain the recovery.
“We clearly need to keep inflation at bay,” French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, host of today’s G-20 meeting in Paris, told Bloomberg Television’s Francine Lacqua. “Too much inflation is not going to be conducive to growth.”
Rising consumer prices, a byproduct of the recovery from the worst recession since World War II as commodity costs surge, have put higher interest rates back on the agenda as the rich world grapples with a debt overhang and developing countries try to escape the boom-bust syndrome.
U.S. year-on-year inflation accelerated to 1.6 percent in January, the highest since May, figures showed yesterday. The euro area’s January rate of 2.4 percent was the fastest since October 2008, skidding past the European Central Bank’s 2 percent target ceiling.
The soaring food price has caused havoc in the middle East and is spreading rapidly in the world.作者: gxhgogo 时间: 2011-2-18 04:49
