IMF chief expresses optimism on US economy, raises outlook

[WASHINGTON] The International Monetary Fund is raising its outlook for the US economy, as a budget deal in Washington and the Federal Reserve's plan to taper its bond buying ease doubts about the future, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde said.

"We see a lot more certainty for 2014," she said in an interview broadcast Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press. With the unemployment rate falling, the Fed's action last week and the government budget agreement, "all of that gives us a much stronger outlook for 2014, which brings us to raising our forecast," she said.

Ms Lagarde's optimism follows a report this month that showed the labour market is improving while investors pushed stocks to record highs. In October, the IMF said that the US economy would expand 2.6 per cent next year, compared with 1.6 per cent in 2013. While she didn't specify any new figures in the interview, the Washington-based fund typically issues revised forecasts in January.