The global economic recovery is proceeding steadily but with few signs that underlying current account imbalances are being reduced, says the International Monetary Fund.

In its twice-yearly world economic outlook, released on Monday, the IMF’s forecasts for growth were largely unchanged from the previous update, with world gross domestic product projected to expand by 4.4 per cent this year and by 4.5 per cent in 2012. The IMF was optimistic advanced economies would continue to recover from the global financial crisis, and that many emerging market economies were now above their pre-crisis trends.

While sovereign debt problems in western Europe and the political uprisings in the Middle East and north Africa had increased the downside risk for global growth, the fund said it was now more certain about its forecast than it had been at the previous estimate in October. “The recovery has become more self-sustaining, risks of a double-dip recession in advanced economies have receded, and global activity seems set to accelerate again,” it said.