World economy begins recovery: IMF chief economist

The global economic recovery "has started," International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist Olivier Blanchard announced in an article released Tuesday.

"Sustaining it (the recovery) will require delicate rebalancing acts, both within and across countries," Blanchard said in an article entitled "Sustaining a Global Recovery." The article will appear in the September issue of the IMF's Finance & Development magazine.

Blanchard cautioned that predictable models based on past recoveries from recessions would not apply to the worst global slump in seven decades.

"In normal recessions, however disruptive they are to businesses and jobs, things turn around predictably. The current global recession is far from normal," he said.

"The world is not in a run-of-the mill recession. The turnaround will not be simple. The crisis has left deep scars, which will affect both supply and demand for many years to come," he observed.

More and more data released recently indicate that the ongoing recession is coming to an end. Many economists expect that the U.S. economy, which is at the core of the financial crisis, will rebound in the third quarter of this year.

Blanchard said sustaining the nascent recovery is likely to require delicate rebalancing acts, both on national and international levels. An understanding of the issues at stake and the dangers as well as coordination between countries are likely to be as crucial during the next few years as they were during the most intense part of the crisis.