WASHINGTON — International Monetary Fund (IMF) MD Christine Lagarde on Thursday called on global leaders to take "forceful" action to revive the world economy, sounding a stark warning ahead of this weekend’s Group of 20 (G-20) summit.Lagarde said as of 2016, global economic growth had stagnated for five years below the 3.7% average that prevailed between 1990 and 2007."Not since the early 1990s … has the world economy been so weak for such a long time," Lagarde said in a note issued to coincide with the start of the summit.The G-20 summit is due to convene in Hangzhou, China, on Sunday and Monday amid a climate of sluggish growth and global uncertainty.Lagarde said the world’s economies faced a potentially toxic mix of low, long-term growth and rising inequality, creating political lures to populism and raised trade barriers.But analysts say the G-20 summit is unlikely to achieve a breakthrough, given that it occurs in the absence of a crisis which could prod governments to take ac...
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