GUERNSEY is feeling the effects of the credit crunch, according to Treasury minister Charles Parkinson.

He said yesterday that the International Monetary Fund had been hasty in raising its global economic forecast and that Guernsey, like everywhere else, was still feeling the impact of a global slowdown.

The IMF has said that it now expects the global economy to grow by 4.1% in 2008, up from an initial forecast of 3.7% in April, because it believes the impact of the credit crunch was not as severe as had been first feared.

‘I find it a little surprising because the credit crunch seems to be biting fairly hard at the moment,’ said Deputy Parkinson (pictured). ‘But if they are right, then that is an improved outlook.’

He said it was likely that the IMF was just trying to paint a brighter picture of how things were shaping up for the global economy.