INTERNATIONAL

Faster World Growth Predicted: A senior International Monetary Fund official brushed aside worries about a world recession and forecast faster global growth next year. “Even if we see downward risk here and there, our expectation is for a global recovery,” said the official, who requested anonymity, at a briefing ahead of the IMF’s semiannual meeting in Washington. He forecast global growth next year of 3.25% after a meager 1.75% rise in 1992. Some private economists are not so sanguine. They argue that Japan’s stock market collapse, Germany’s slumping growth and America’s doubtful recovery have increased the odds of a global downturn. That is a worry shared by the Bush Administration, which is afraid that weak growth overseas will sabotage the hesitant U.S. recovery and hurt the President’s chances for reelection in November.