Political and business leaders began a second day of an annual global summit in Davos, Switzerland on Friday, digesting a warning overnight by the US Federal Reserve that the US economy has stalled.
Testimony by Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan to Congress Thursday that the US economy probably was growing at a rate "close to zero" cast a pall over optimistic forecasts earlier at the World Economic Forum (WEF) that the US slowdown was unlikely to slip into recession.
The panel of academic economists and top investors had predicted the slide would be bumpy, on the opening day of the six-day WEF annual meetings expected to be dominated by speculation on the extent of a US slump.
Friday's agenda includes a discussion on the troubled outlook for Japan's economy, the second largest in the world after the United States.
Adding to the gloom was a Japanese government report Friday that deflation fell in December for the 16th month in a row, the longest recorded decline in consumer prices.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori is to address the WEF Saturday. He is the first Japanese head of government to participate in the annual global summit in Davos.
Mexico's new president, Vicente Fox, was to debut at the WEF summit in a news conference Friday.
The forum has brought together the global business and political elite -- including some 30 heads of government and state, ministers, corporate chiefs, social and economic leaders.
Switzerland has imposed unprecedented security measures on the meeting to avoid a repetition of last year's violent demonstrations, but no demonstrators were in evidence.
Barbed wire, steel barriers and police patrols lined the snow-covered street in front of the Congress Center, the forum site in this upscale ski resort.
Despite an official ban on public demonstrations, protesters have vowed to descend on the chic ski resort on Saturday.
Swiss police have begun routine searches of all travelers to Davos to check for weapons, explosives or materials for Molotov cocktails, officials said Thursday.
No one was arrested, but Switzerland has issued a 300-name list of people barred entry because of previous troublemaking.
Prospects for global growth in light of the anticipated US economic slowdown were expected to feature heavily on the agenda of the more than 300 sessions, panel discussions and meetings -- DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP)
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