International Monetary Fund presented its report “World Economic Outlook”. The Fund’s experts raised the forecast for the growth of global GDP in 2017 from 3.4 to 3.5 percent. At the same time, the report notes the weakening of the growth dynamics of developed countries’ economies. The review does not exclude a higher growth rate of the world economy in the current year. However, they point to the presence of risks that may cause slower growth.
The growth outlook for China’s economy has also been revised. The Fund increased it from 6.5 percent to 6.6 percent against the background of the increase in lending and investment volumes.
What concerns Russia, the International Monetary Fund expects the growth of the country’s gross domestic product by 1.4 percent in 2017. This is better than the January IMF forecast by 0.3 percentage points. The proximity of the Russian economy to the level of European countries will be hindered by the absence of structural reforms in the country.
The U.S. economic growth forecast for the current year has been left unchanged at 2.3 percent.
MVF expects the average price of oil this year to be $55.20 per barrel. The report notes the risks for the global oil market. They’re mostly related to geopolitics.
The main threat to the world economy was the possible transition to protectionist policies, which could lead to serious trade wars between countries.