"Welcome to the 2014 Spring Meetings. You will have seen our numbers in the WEO that was presented a couple of days ago. For those not in the room, we expect global growth at 3.6 percent this year and 3.9 percent in 2015.
The emerging markets and developing economies continue to be the main source of growth, even if a bit slower than in the past, at 5 percent in 2014 and 5.4 percent in 2015. The advanced economies are finally strengthening a bit, with growth projected at 2.3 percent this year, and next year as well. Our overall message, the global economy is turning the corner, but the recovery is still too weak and too slow. So, our bottom line is, fairly good, but not quite good enough, can do better. For some, despite the fact that growth is strengthening, they're not feeling it. We still have 200 million people unemployed.
So, bold actions are needed to generate more rapid, stronger, and sustainable growth, as is outlined in our global policy agenda, what we call our GPA, which I know you have received overnight and I hope has made good reading for you last night. We are sharing it with you for the first time in advance. So, you probably wonder what policymakers are going to discuss during these meetings. We believe that the overriding topic for discussion will be the topic of growth, quest for higher growth, better quality growth, more inclusive growth, and sustainable growth. Now, what does that mean in practice? It means in our view overriding a trio of hurdles.
First, an extended period of low inflation in the advanced economies. The topic has been discussed. We are concerned about this potential risk in advanced economies in general, in the euro area in particular, where we know that prolonged low inflation would hurt both growth and jobs. In this context, it is encouraging that the ECB has reiterated its commitment to use unconventional measures as needed.
Second, we need to act on growth because it is just too low, and we need to act now, and that requires policy actions across the board. In the advanced economies, they need to get the pace of fiscal adjustment right and the normalization of their monetary policy right in due course as well. It will be about timing. It will be about execution. It will be about communication.
In the emerging market economies, they need to strengthen macro and prudential policies to safeguard against market volatility.
In the low-income countries, where growth continues to be strong, they need to guard against the rapid debt buildup that needs to be watched. Short-term growth, but we need to also guard against the risk of low growth in the future. To deal with that we need ambitious and coherent policies to avoid years of subpar growth and to secure global financial stability. That means that all countries, advanced, emerging, and low income, need to step up structural reforms. That is certainly the case in product and service markets, but it is also the case in labor markets. Together with that well-targeted investments, whether private or publicly funded, are needed in quite a few countries, not all.
It also means renewing the momentum on global financial reform and containing financial vulnerabilities emerging in hot spots in various places. For instance, in the non-bank sector, both in the United States and in China, and high corporate debt in emerging economies. And all of that, obviously, is taking place against the rising risk of a geopolitical nature.
Now, how can we get to that destination and face those three hurdles? Clearly, the policies that I have briefly touched on are needed, but what is also needed is cooperation. At the recent G-20 meeting that took place in Sydney, it was noted that with the right policies undertaken by the various countries, and appropriate cooperation between them, growth could actually be higher by 2 percentage points over the next five years. And that is the kind of growth trajectory that would help create jobs and improve the situation of those economies".
