New Delhi: After World Bank and ADB (Asian Development Bank), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is likely to revise upwards India's economic growth projections along with the global economic forecast for 2004.

"We are certainly more optimistic that the global economic forecast will go up," IMF first deputy managing director Anne O Krueger said, adding the US (United States), China and India were some of the countries which would be main drivers of growth in 2004.

IMF had forecast a 4.0 per cent growth in global economy for 2003, while it was 5.5 per cent for developing nations. For India, it had predicted 5.6 per cent growth.

"The world economy is now clearly on the upswing. Recovery in the US is stronger than we had anticipated and the outlook for many regions of the world, including Asia, is brighter than it has been for some time," she said at the IMF-NIPFP (National Institute of Public Finance and Policy) conference which ended yesterday (Jan 18, 2004).

She declined to give country-specific figures but said "India has embarked on economic and fiscal reforms. It will be a pity to lose the momentum and not take advantage of high growth."

Although World Bank and ADB had revised India's growth forecast to six per cent after the good monsoon, the fund was yet to do so.

On the other hand, Ministry of Finance and RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has pegged GDP (Gross Domestic Produce) growth at over seven per cent while independent agencies like NCAER (National Council of Applied Economic Research) have pegged it at 7.3, ICRA at 6.9 and CRISIL at 7.1 per cent.