IMF cuts global growth outlook to 3.2% in 2022

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its outlook for the global economy this year amid surging inflation and severe slowdowns in the US and China. The IMF also warned that the situation could get much worse. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF cut the 2022 global gross domestic product estimate to 3.2%, four-tenths of a point lower than the April forecast, and about half the rate seen last year. It said that last year’s “tentative recovery” from the pandemic downturn “has been followed by increasingly gloomy developments in 2022 as risks began to materialise. Ongoing Covid-19 lockdowns and a worsening real estate crisis have hindered economic activity in China, while the Federal Reserve’s aggressive interest rate hikes are slowing US growth sharply.