The International Monetary Fund will reduce its estimate for global growth this year on weakness in investment, jobs and manufacturing in Europe, the US, Brazil, India and China, Managing Director Christine Lagarde said.
“The global growth outlook will be somewhat less than we anticipated just three months ago,” Lagarde said in a speech in Tokyo today. “And even that lower projection will depend on the right policy actions being taken.” The new outlook will be announced in 10 days, after an April estimate of 3.5 percent, she said.
The “key emerging markets” of Brazil, China and India are showing signs of slowdown, Lagarde said. Those three countries along with Russia will comprise more than 20 percent of the world economy this year, according to IMF data.
“Over the past few months, the outlook has regrettably become more worrisome,” Lagarde said. “Many indicators of economic activity -- investment, employment, manufacturing -- have deteriorated. And not just in Europe or the United States.”
The IMF has already lowered its US growth estimate to 2 percent from April’s 2.1 percent.