IMF lowers its forecast for global economic-growth in 2015, 2016

The International Monetary Fund has lowered its forecast for global economic growth for 2015 and 2016. In its latest quarterly global outlook, released Monday night, the IMF pegged growth this year at 3.5 percent, compared with its previous estimate of 3.8 percent last October. For 2016, the global economy is projected to expand by 3.7 percent, down from 4 percent in October.

This is the most the IMF has cut its global economic growth forecast in three years, Bloomberg reports. "The world economy is facing strong and complex crosscurrents," says Olivier Blanchard, the IMF's chief economist. "On the one hand, major economies are benefiting from the decline in the price of oil. On the other, in many parts of the world, lower long-run prospects adversely affect demand, resulting in a strong undertow."

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