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• IMF will release its World Economic Outlook in mid-July
• Annual global economic growth was lowered to 3.6% in April
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expects to further lower its annual forecast for global economic growth, which is due to release an update to its World Economic Outlook in mid-July, marking the third downgrade this year.
The news came after the World Bank and Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) cut their forecasts this week.
At a regular briefing by the financial institution, IMF spokesperson Gerry Rice told reporters that the overall outlook still called for growth across the globe, albeit at a slower level, but that some countries may be facing a recession.
"Clearly, a number of developments have taken place that could lead us to revise down further," Rice said.
"So much has happened and (is) happening very quickly since we last came with our forecast."
The World Bank on Tuesday cut its global growth forecast by nearly a third to 2.9% for 2022, citing compounding damage from Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic while warning about the rising risk of stagflation.
A day later, the OECD cut its forecast by 1.5 percentage points to 3%, saying the global economy should avoid a bout of 1970s-style stagflation.
In April, the IMF had already lowered its forecast for global economic growth by nearly a full percentage point to 3.6% in 2022 and 2023.
Rice said the expected downgrade was due to the continuing war in Ukraine, volatile commodity prices, very high food and energy prices, a more severe than expected slowdown in the Chinese economy, and rising interest rates in several advanced economies.
"We're seeing this confluence of crises ... the combination of all of these things going in the same direction of downside risks materializing," he said.
Picture Credit: Reuters
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