The recent rise in oil prices signals a feeling that the sharpest period of global economic decline "is over", a senior International Monetary Fund (IMF) official told a gathering of Group of Eight (G8) Energy Ministers in Rome on Monday. Oil prices in recent weeks have risen to around $60 a barrel "reflecting a general improvement," including that growth in China "may be picking up," IMF First Deputy Managing Director, John Lipsky was quoted as saying by DPA. He also said that the price rise was built "on expectations that the contraction in oil demand may bottom out soon." Lipsky was speaking during a session of the Rome gathering which is bringing together representatives from the G8 - the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Russia. Also attending the two-day meeting which ends on Monday are energy officials from emerging economies such as Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.
