The IMF published its World Economic Outlook 2007 – Globalization and Inequality. The IMF now expects the global economy to grow 4.8% next year, down from its earlier 5.2% forecast. The downgrade follows in the wake of the much-publicised turmoil in the global credit markets which was started by record defaults in the US sub-prime mortgage sector. The IMF expects the US to see a particularly sharp slowdown in economic growth next year, now predicting it will expand just 1.9% in 2008, compared with its previous forecast of 2.8%. On China, the IMF sees its growth slowing slightly to 10% next year, down from 11.5% for 2007. And in Europe, it is projecting that the UK economy will slow to 2.3% in 2008 from 3.1% this year, while Germany’s growth will slip to 2% next year from 2.4% for 2007.
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