IMF Warns Global Outlook 'precarious,' No Room For Policy Mistakes

The world economy is slowing to its weakest pace since the global financial crisis, as the US-China trade war undercuts business confidence and investment, the IMF said Tuesday

Washington, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Oct, 2019 ) :The world economy is slowing to its weakest pace since the global financial crisis, as the US-China trade war undercuts business confidence and investment, the IMF said Tuesday.

It warned that the outlook is beset by risks, and urged policymakers to work to find resolutions to trade disputes, since there are limited tools to respond to a new crisis.

"With a synchronized slowdown and uncertain recovery, the global outlook remains precarious," International Monetary Fund chief economist Gita Gopinath said in her introduction to the latest forecasts.

The IMF for the past year has every three months cut projected growth for 2019 as trade conflicts worsened.

In its latest World Economic Outlook it trimmed the estimate by another two-tenths, to 3.0 percent. The report also lowered the 2020 forecast by a tenth to 3.4 percent.

"At three percent growth, there is no room for policy mistakes and an urgent need for policymakers to cooperatively deescalate trade and geopolitical tensions," Gopinath said.

In addition, the trade conflicts and a slowdown in auto sales worldwide means trade growth has slowed sharply, falling in the firsthalf of the year to its weakest since 2012, with an estimated increaseof just 1.1 percent this year after a 3.6 percent jump in 2018.