'Economic recovery could start in next nine months' - UN

ED RICHARDSON THERE ARE signs that global economic recovery could start within the next nine months, says United Nations Council for Trade and Development secretary-general Rubens Ricupero. Speaking in Geneva at the opening of the of the 48th session of the Trade and Development Board, Ricupero said that, although there were still many unknowns, there were reasonable grounds for optimism in the medium term. While a recession seemed unavoidable, economic recovery could already start in the second half of 2002. One of the reasons for optimism is that the US economy will benefit from low interest rates. A $50 billion emergency credit allocated by the US Congress and the additional $70 billion in US Government expenditure will also inject the equivalent of almost 1% of the US GDP into the economy.