GLOBAL ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
IMF warns of protectionist threat to growth
The risk of ‘trade warfare’ hangs over the world economy
Washington — The emergence of protectionist forces could undermine a modest brightening of the outlook on global growth and is putting strain on the post-Second World War economic order, the IMF says in its World Economic Outlook. The IMF raised its forecast for global growth to 3.5% for 2016, up 0.1 percentage point from January, the Washington-based fund said in the latest update to its outlook. Expansion would pick up to 3.6% in 2018, unchanged from the projection three months ago. The upgrade offers a glimmer of optimism against a backdrop in recent years of the fund downgrading its growth forecasts. The pick-up was fuelled by "buoyant" financial markets and a long-awaited cyclical recovery in manufacturing and trade, the IMF said. Still, global growth remained subdued compared with that of past decades. The risk of "trade warfare" was hanging over the world economy, said IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld. "The global economy seems to be gaining momentum — we could be at a tu...
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