Economic policy makers from all corners of the word ended their meeting in in Washington with a call for assistance to countries most affected by a recent sharp rise in food prices.

Finance ministers from around the world are gathering in Washington for the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Policy makers are confronting the twin problems of slowing world growth and rising inflation.

U.S. analysts give Ukraine good marks for economic policies, but agree with the general perception in the country that the government is corrupt. VOA's Barry Wood attended a meeting of experts on Ukraine at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and has this report.

President Bush says his economic policies are shrinking the U.S. budget deficit. President Bush closed a meeting of his economic team by heralding new government figures that show a projected budget deficit of $244 billion turned out to be $163 billion.

The longtime head of the U.S. central bank, Alan Greenspan, has criticized the economic policies of President Bush and the Republican-majority Congress.