The News
Even before factoring in the latest round of tariffs, the International Monetary Fund has significantly downgraded its global growth forecast — and its estimates may still prove optimistic.
US President Donald Trump’s sweeping levies and broader retreat from international cooperation will continue to weigh on the global economy, the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook. “We are entering a new era as the global economic system that has operated for the last 80 years is being reset,” IMF Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said.
Gulf countries — except Qatar — are all expected to grow more slowly than previously forecast. The IMF now projects global growth at 2.8% this year, 0.5 percentage points below its October forecast, and puts the probability of a global recession at 30%.