IMF slashes 2013-2014 global growth forecasts

The International Monetary Fund lowered its 2013-14 global growth projections Tuesday due to weakening economic conditions in major emerging economies including China, India and Russia. The Washington-based crisis lender revised its growth estimate for this year's world output to what would be a four-year low of 2.9 per cent, from a July forecast of 3.2 per cent. The 2014 global forecast was trimmed by 0.2 percentage points to 3.6 per cent. For 2014, the IMF lowered its growth outlook for the group by 0.4 percentage points to 5.1 per cent. The most dramatic slowdowns were in India, off 1.8 percentage points to 3.8 per cent growth; Mexico, off 1.7 points to 1.2 per cent; Russia, off 1.0 point to 1.5 per cent; and the Middle East and North Africa region, off 0.9 points to 2.1 per cent. The IMF projected that China, the world's second-largest economy, would see growth of 7.6 per cent in 2013, a dip of 0.2 percentage points from previous forecasts, and pared the forecast for next year by 0.4 percentage points to 7.3 per cent. IMF forecasts were unchanged for the club of advanced economies - North America, Europe and Japan - with growth of 1.2 per cent this year and 2 per cent in 2014.