Chairman of the G10 group of central bankers, Jean-Claude Claude Trichet, today stuck to an optimistic tone on the prospects for global growth even though he also conceded that the risks remain skewed to the downside. "We can say that global growth looks like it is going at a pace that remains encouraging," he told reporters. However, he qualified the statement by saying that "the risks on overall growth remain to the downside". He identified sharp rises in the price of oil and food as one key risk to price stability around the world. Additionally, he identified corrections in financial markets along with elements of protectionism as risks to the global economy. Turning to the thorny subject of currencies, in particular the dollar's relentless falls and China's tight management of the yuan, Trichet was cagey. He repeated what he has said many times before, namely that "excess volatility in currency markets is undesirable".