World Bank trims 2020 growth forecast amid slow recovery

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Jan 10, 2020 06:00 am

WASHINGTON : The World Bank on Wednesday trimmed its global growth forecasts slightly for last year and this year due to a slower-than-expected recovery in trade and investment, despite cooler trade tensions between the US and China.

The multilateral development bank said last year marked the weakest economic expansion since the global financial crisis a decade ago, and this year, while a slight improvement, remained vulnerable to uncertainties over trade and geopolitical tensions.

In its latest Global Economic Prospects report, the World Bank shaved 0.2 percentage point off of growth for both years, with last year's global economic growth forecast at 2.4 per cent and this year's at 2.5 per cent.

"This modest increase in global growth marks the end of the slowdown that started in 2018 and took a heavy toll on global activity, trade and investment, especially last year," said the World Bank's lead economic forecaster Ayhan Kose.

"We do expect an improvement, but overall, we also see a weaker growth outlook."

The latest World Bank forecasts take into account the so-called Phase 1 trade deal announced by the US and China, which suspended new US tariffs on Chinese consumer goods scheduled for Dec 15 and reduced the tariff rate on some other goods.- REUTERS