The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is more likely to raise its world economic growth forecast from its current 4.6 per cent than to lower it, IMF Managing Director Mr Rodrigo Rato said today.
Earlier Mr Rato called on the European Union and Japan to make growth-spurring structural reforms and asked the United States to cut its deficit.
"An upward (growth revision) could be more likely than a downward (revision)," Mr Rato told reporters at a conference marking the 60th anniversary of the Bretton Woods agreement that created the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Regarding fast-growing China, Mr Rato said: "In the next months we expect to see a moderation of Chinese growth to make it more sustainable in the medium term."
Mr Rato, who took over as IMF chief earlier this month, said the multinational body had a particularly important role in highlighting major economic challenges that the world must tackle.
"This is why, despite the controversy our advice often provokes, the IMF calls on the United States, Europe and Japan to contribute to more balanced and sustained global growth.
"This means active efforts by the United States to reduce its deficit and by the European Union and Japan to promote sustained growth through structural reforms," Mr Rato said.
He did not say whether he was referring to the United States' trade or budget deficit.