Watchout

The IMF said Thursday that rising living standards in China and the rest of the developing world will keep oil prices sky-high for decades to come, with even 100 dollars a barrel not ruled out.









The IMF said Thursday that rising living standards in China and the rest of the developing world will keep oil prices sky-high for decades to come, with even 100 dollars a barrel not ruled out. In its twice-yearly World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund predicted that in 2030, the average price of a barrel of oil would stand in the range of 39-56 dollars in real terms.

In nominal terms, without adjusting for inflation, the price would be 67-96 dollars, it said, owing to "exploding" demand for cars as countries such as China and India spend their new-found wealth.

Fears of an economic crunch have intensified with oil prices up by around 40 percent since the start of the year to surpass 58 dollars a barrel for the first time.

IMF chief Rodrigo Rato warned this week that the high prices would shave between 0.

25 and 0.5 percentage points off global economic growth this year.

Strong growth and high deficits in the United States, compared with lacklustre growth in Europe