However, IMF Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato said prices may not stay as high as the current level of $56 a barrel. De Rato made the comments during a three-day visit to India, where he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and other top officials in New Delhi and Mumbai. Despite high oil prices, de Rato said: "We see a strong (global) economic growth in 2005 -- certainly above 4 percent." "We have to be aware that probably oil prices will stay high, although probably not at these levels, in the next two years at least because of demand pressures and because of certain supply constraints," he told reporters. De Rato described India's economy as "robust" and predicted a 7.5 percent to 8 percent economic growth in the fiscal 2005, but called for the country to open its economy. He also recommended India reform labor and tax laws and allow the private sector to develop the country's poor infrastructure. Although it has been easing protectionist trade barriers since the 1990s, import duties are still high compared to other Asian countries. PIN/AP