Rising oil prices pose a growing risk to the world economy and will have a visible impact on global economic growth next year, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday. "The downside risks from oil have increased," IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato told reporters after a regular meeting of IMF, World Bank and World Trade Organisation officials.
"We see a clear impact next year but we also see other positive forces of growth that will in part compensate," he said, without elaborating.
But he also added it was too early to revise the IMF's growth forecasts to account for the impact of record-high oil prices, which could slow down economic growth while increasing the risk of inflation.
Oil prices simmered near $55 a barrel on Friday amid rising fears of a winter fuel supply crunch and robust but slowing economic growth in China, the world's number two user.
Prices have hit a succession of record highs over $50 for the past three weeks.
IMF officials have indicated that the relentless rise of oil prices meant the fund's recent forecast of 4.3 percent global growth in 2005, published on Sept. 29, was already out of date.
Rato was in Geneva on his way to the Middle East, his first trip to the oil-producing region since taking the helm of the global lending institution earlier this year.
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