As in 2010, the growth rate of the overall global economy in 2011 and 2012 is likely to exceed the average rate recorded during the decade before the outbreak of the financial crisis triggered by the failure of Lehman Brothers. However, uncertainty remains high concerning the global economic and price environments.
However, recent IMF research shows that the poor benefit most when inflation is low and they are least adversely affected by rising interest rates.4 This is because the poor are less able to shield themselves from the effects of inflation and tend to have lower exposure to floating interest rate debt.