Washington - Saba:
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva stated that the Fund is observing the increasing risks of an economic recession in the United States.
Georgieva said at a press conference held as part of the spring session of the governing bodies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on Thursday: "When we look at the data, we see that the risk of recession in the United States has risen to 37%, but we are not yet in a recession."
She added: "We have not reached a recession, neither in the labor market nor in economic performance indicators. We are not witnessing a sharp decline in economic activity that could lead to a decline in the US growth rate to negative values."
She continued: "We had previously expected the US economy to grow by 2.7% this year. In fact, we have lowered our forecast for US GDP growth, which is our largest reduction, by 0.9%, to 1.8% for this year. But we see sufficient factors to allow the United States to move forward."
The IMF chief concluded by saying, "Of course, we recognize that there is much more work to be done to resolve trade disputes and reduce global tensions. I want to reiterate that these tensions are very harmful to business. That's why the sooner this cloud over our heads lifts, the better the prospects for global growth."
It's worth noting that US President Donald Trump announced on April 2 that he would impose tariffs on nearly all countries worldwide.
Trump later announced that he would suspend the application of tariffs for countries that agreed to negotiate with Washington on trade.
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