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| The IMF said growth in the euro zone was now expected to be slightly stronger in 2018 and pointed to “solid momentum” |
The International Monetary Fund kept its growth forecasts for the world economy unchanged for this year and next, although it revised up growth expectations for the eurozone and China.
In an updated World Economic Outlook published on Monday, the IMF said global gross domestic product would grow 3.5 percent in 2017 and 3.6 percent in 2018, unchanged from estimates issued in April.
โWhile risks around the global growth forecast appear broadly balanced in the near term, they remain skewed to the downside over the medium term,โ the IMF said in updated forecasts released in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.
The IMF shaved its forecasts for U.S. growth to 2.1 percent for 2017 and 2018, slightly down from projections of 2.3 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively, just three months ago. The Fund reversed previous assumptions that the Trump administrationโs planned stimulus measures would boost U.S. growth, largely because no details of those plans have been made public.
Maurice Obstfeld, the IMFโs economic counsellor and director of research, said the global economy has been the subject of considerable protectionist rhetoric, such as President Donald Trumpโs proposed tariff on steel imported from China, but such talk had yet to translate into much action.
โWhat will happen in the future, we donโt know. These threats are in our downside thinking. Theyโre not built into our baseline (forecast) because hopefully they donโt happen, but there are risks,โ Obstfeld told a news conference here.
The IMF said growth in the euro zone was now expected to be slightly stronger in 2018 and pointed to โsolid momentumโ.
It upgraded 2017 GDP growth projections for the eurozone to 1.9 percent, up 0.2 percentage point from April. The IMF said eurozone growth would be slightly stronger at 1.7 percent, a 0.1-percentage-point change from just three months ago.
It said the expected higher growth in the eurozone indicated โstronger momentum in domestic demand than previously expectedโ.
The IMF revised down its 2017 forecast for the United Kingdom by 0.3 percentage point to 1.7 percent, citing weaker-than-expected activity in the first quarter. It left its 2018 forecast unchanged at 1.5 percent.
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The IMF said it expected slightly higher growth in Japan this year of 1.3 percent, revised from a forecast of 1.2 percent in April. It cited stronger first-quarter growth buoyed by private consumption, investment and exports. Its forecast for Japanโs 2018 growth was unchanged at 0.6 percent.
For China, the IMF expected stronger growth of 6.7 percent in 2017, up 0.1 percentage point from the April forecast.
It said Chinaโs growth would still moderate in 2018 to 6.4 percent, but noted that estimate was up 0.2 percentage point from the April forecast on expectations that Beijing would maintain high levels of public investment.
But Obstfeld expected Chinaโs economic expansion to slow down over the second half of 2017 as Chinese authorities looked to manage rapid credit growth and non-performing loans.
โIn the first two quarters of this year, growth has come in very high. Part of this is the general upsurge in world growth and the upsurge in trade in Asia. But there is also a component that has been fuelled by expanding domestic credit, and thatโs the part that worries us,โ Obstfeld said.
