World Newspaper and magazine Clippings

GROWTH PROSPECTS,2001

The world economy will slow in 2001, according to the latest forecasts(预测） by the Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister company of The Economist. Global output will rise by 3.4%, down from 4.2% in 2000, which was the fastest increase since 1984. All developing regions will grow faster than Western Europe and North America, where growth will slacken(松弛, 放慢, 减弱, 减少) primarily because of a slowdown in the American economy. Growth will be fastest in the Middle East and North Africa, where output will rise by 4.4%, as the higher oil revenues earned over the past year boost（推进）public and private spending. In Asia and Australasia澳大拉西亚(一般指澳大利亚,新西兰及附近南太平洋诸岛), output will rise by 3.9%, with a sluggish Japanese economy offsetting(位移,偏移,斜率) rapid growth in China and India. Growth among developing regions will be lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, but at 3.3% it will still be just higher than in North America and Western Europe. However, GDP in Zimbabwe will fall by almost 3%, the worst performance of any country in the survey.