International Monetary Fund downgrades outlook for world economy to 3.7% growth

It had previously predicted jobless rates of 5.5% and 5.2% respectively.

It also urged global regulators to keep in place measures taken since the financial crisis and both heighten supervision of market liquidity and raise the amount of capital banks have to set aside to cushion any downturn.

The IMF had recently termed the exchange rate as “overvalued”.

To offset the effects of Federal Reserve rate rises, USA trade tariffs and domestic economic pressure caused by tighter financial regulation aimed at reducing debt risks in China’s financial system, the Chinese authorities have eased monetary policy and the implementation of proposed new financial regulations. He said the previous PML-N government had started its term in 2013 with a $3 billion current account deficit, but his government inherited $18 billion current account deficit. Meanwhile, Pakistan would have to repay $1.2 billion in next couple of months (October and November), which would further erode the reserves.

“If you look at emerging market economies, that includes India, you see that private debt in the last 10 years has increased quite substantially, although in the last two years, since the end of 2015, 2016 and 2017, there is a slowdown in the process of leveraging, but debt is very high and public debt is a very high as well”, Gasper said.

The risks of a government funding crisis in Italy, where the country’s banks are under pressure, is also highlighted.

The IMF assistance should be enough to bridge the deficit gap and support the plummeting foreign exchange reserves which have plunged below United States dollars 10 billion, it said.

Whilst Forbes sees Nigeria’s economy as the most performed in Africa in 2018 with good prospects for 2019, International Monetary Fund reports a sluggish growth and perhaps a stunted economy by 2019.

The downgrade reflects a confluence of factors, including the introduction of import tariffs between the United States and China, weaker performances by euro zone countries, Japan and Britain.

“Trade deficits don’t (necessarily) mean cheating by the other side…”

The report applied a stress to the U.S. public sector assets, heavily concentrated in public pension funds, mortgages and student loans, finding that a scenario involving a severe recession, higher long-term interest rates and rapid falls in stock and real estate prices would shrink USA public net worth by an equivalent of 26 per cent of GDP by 2020.

“I am now off to Bali for the annual IMF/World Bank meeting to continue dialogue with our global partners, focusing on accelerating Zimbabwe arrears with multi-lateral lenders and unlocking new capital”, he said in a tweet yesterday.

The IMF’s comments added to the appearance of confusion around the abruptly announced decision. “So, we will be listening very, very attentively when and if they come to us”.

An assessment by the State Bank of Pakistan and the finance ministry showed that Pakistan needed Dollars 11.7 billion to service its external debt in the current fiscal year 2018-19.

External borrowing has continued to rise in most emerging-market economies, although current account imbalances have fallen in recent years. “They also have a low level of reserves and a currency that is too rigid and overvalued”, he added.

Pakistan’s economic downturn has also coincided with a fissure in relations with the United States, which has cautioned that it did not want International Monetary Fund bailout money be used to pay off Chinese loans, which Washington calls debt trap diplomacy.

The IMF fears this could lead to sharp falls in markets.