IMF Managing Director Rodrigo Rato forecasted that the world economy faces another solid year of growth in 2007, estimated in 5%, and underlined the fact that the world is less dependent on the United States economy.
A jump in fuel prices pushed the United States March retail prices index to its highest in twelve months, 0.6%. However the good news is that core inflation which excludes energy and food costs rose by 0.1%, down from 0.2% in February and 0.3% in January.
Wall Street declined Wednesday following the release of Federal Reserve minutes from last month's meeting showing policymakers were unanimous in the view that inflation, not economic weakness, was their major worry.
US President George W Bush has again stressed the need for agreement in Washington on immigration reform.
Visiting a border post in Arizona, Mr Bush said the US needed a system that secured its frontiers while honouring its history as a nation of immigrants.
Former United States vice president Al Gore claims there's a lack of political will to solve the global climate crisis, including from United States. In an interview with Colombia's main daily, El Tiempo, he blamed several US corporations on the confusion surrounding the controversy.
United States falling home values, poor consumer confidence and rising fuel prices knocked Tuesday Wall Street and Latinamerican stock markets. The New York-based Conference Board index for March fell to 107.2 from 111.2 a month earlier.
Sales of new homes in United States dropped for the second month in a row this year, 15.8% in January and 3.9% in February, according to the Commerce Department.
China's accumulation of United States debt is not a problem for the US or for the Federal Reserve monetary policy, said Chairman Ben Bernanke said in a letter dated March 16 but released on Monday.
The United States tourism industry grew at an annual 8% in the fourth quarter of 2006, the highest since the first quarter of 2005, according to a Commerce Department release.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues are still worried about inflation, even while hinting that an interest rate cut may be needed to help boost a weak economy.