New Zealand one of strongest growing economies: IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said New Zealand will be one of the strongest growing of the world's advanced economies this year and the next.

The IMF's annual economic outlook said on Wednesday that activity in the major economies has started to accelerate from subdued levels as the world recovers from recession.

It forecasts New Zealand's GDP growth rate this year to be 2.5 percent, rising to 2.9 percent by next year - figures bettered only by a handful of the 35 advanced economies.

The report projects an unemployment rate for New Zealand next year of 5.3 percent, which compares with 6 percent for Australia, 7.4 percent for the United States and 12.2 percent for the Euro area.

The IMF cautions its forecast assumes the public spending shutdown in the United States will be short-lived and the debt ceiling raised promptly, saying failure to resolve the situation will have an economic spillover for the rest of the world.