World Bank revises China growth forecast to 7.2%

The World Bank said China’s economy would grow 7.2% in 2009, in an upward revision from its previous forecast of 6.5%, Bloomberg reported. In its latest quarterly report, the bank pointed to high levels of lending and a loose monetary environment in making the change. "The massive monetary impulse will fuel economic growth in coming quarters. I don’t think China will see a V-shaped recovery back to high single-digit growth rates," said Louis Kuijs, the World Bank’s senior economist for China in Beijing. The bank also said slower exports would lead to slower growth of China’s foreign exchange reserves, forecasting them to expand by US$218 billion compared with last year’s US$418 billion.