World Bank Chief Warns on Obstacles to Growth
Author: Bob Davis</br></br>WASHINGTON--The global economy is recovering at such a tepid pace, said World Bank President Robert Zoellick, that countries must guard against creating "tensions" that could undermine further growth.</br></br>Among the issues that warrant particular attention are foreign-currency fights, protectionism, asset bubbles and food-price volatility, he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.</br></br>"When you have slow growth and high unemployment [in wealthy countries] you run the risk of frictions, whether they be currency, trade and social issues like immigration" escalating into larger problems, he said on Monday, a few days before the 187 member nations of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund gather for their annual meetings. "It will be very important for leading countries to manage their differences."</br></br>At the top of the list, he said, was the economic relationship between China and the U.S., in which the U.S. is pressing China to revalue its currency as a way to cut its large trade deficit with China. Other countries in Asia have been intervening to keep their currencies low partly as a way to meet Chinese competition.