(Versions in Español and عربي)
Today we published the World Economic Outlook Update.
But first, let me talk about the elephant in the room, namely Greece.
The word elephant may not be right: As dramatic as the events in Greece are, Greece accounts for less than two percent of the Eurozone GDP, and less than one half of one percent of world GDP.
Continue reading “Behind the News in Greece and China, Moderate Growth Continues” »
(Versions in Español, 中文, 日本語, Русский )
The recovery continues, but it remains weak, indeed a bit weaker than we forecast in April.
We have revised our forecast for world growth in 2014 from 3.7 percent in April to 3.4 percent today. This headline number makes things look worse than they really are. To a large extent, it reflects something that has already happened, namely the large negative US growth rate in the first quarter. But it is not all due to that. It also reflects a number of small downward revisions, both in advanced and in emerging economies.
The overall story remains largely the same as before:
Advanced economies are still confronted with high levels of public and private debt, which act as brakes on the recovery. These brakes are coming off, but at different rates across countries.
Emerging markets are slowing down from pre-crisis growth rates. They have to address some of their underlying structural problems, and take on structural reforms. At the same time, they have to deal with the implications of monetary policy normalization in the US.
Let me take you on the usual tour of the world.
(Version in Español and Português)
The prospects for global growth have brightened in recent months, led by a stronger recovery in the advanced economies. Yet in Latin America and the Caribbean, growth will probably continue to slow, although some countries will do better than others. We analyze the challenges facing the region in our latest Regional Economic Outlook and discuss how policymakers can best deal with them.
(Version in Français, Español, Русский, عربي, 中文 and 日本語)
The dynamics that were emerging at the time of the October 2013 World Economic Outlook are becoming more visible. Put simply, the recovery is strengthening.
In our recent World Economic Outlook, we forecast world growth to be 3.6 percent this year and 3.9 percent next year, up from 3.0 percent last year.
In advanced economies, we forecast growth to reach 2.2 percent in 2014, up from 1.3 percent in 2013.
The recovery which was starting to take hold in October is becoming not only stronger, but also broader. The various brakes that hampered growth are being slowly loosened. Fiscal consolidation is slowing, and investors are less worried about debt sustainability. Banks are gradually becoming stronger. Although we are far short of a full recovery, the normalization of monetary policy—both conventional and unconventional—is now on the agenda.
Brakes are loosened at different paces however, and the recovery remains uneven.
Continue reading “As Demand Improves, Time to Focus More on Supply” »
The IMF has just published its latest forecast for the global economy, the World Economic Outlook. After a deep recession, global economic growth has turned positive, driven by wide-ranging, coordinated public intervention that has supported demand and reduced uncertainty and systemic risk in financial markets, according to the report.
"The recovery has started. Financial markets are healing," says IMF Chief Economist Olivier Blanchard. But he warned the recovery will be slow. "The current numbers shuld not fool governments into thinking that the crisis is over," he said.
The Fund also published its Global Financial Stability Report. It also sees a recovery, but much more needs to be done to heal the international financial system, including repairing bank balance sheets. Read the IMF Survey story.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPYtbOt8Oqg]
