Global expansion wanes with lower growth forecast: IMF

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Monday that global expansion has weakened and that the world's economy is expected to grow at 3.5 percent in 2019, and 3.6 percent in 2020.

Revealing a revised World Economic Outlook ahead of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos-Klosters, the IMF said growth is appraised at 0.2 percentage point lower for this year and 0.1 percentage point lower for next year, compared to last October's projections.

"After two years of solid expansion, the world economy is growing more slowly than expected, and risks are rising," said IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde at a press conference here.

She cautioned that "even as the economy continues moving ahead, it is facing considerable risks, some of them related to policy."

She said the risks increasingly intertwine with higher tariffs fed into the future of global trade along with lower asset prices and higher market volatility in "tightening financial conditions" in a world of "high debt burden."

The conditions did not, however, mean the world is facing a recession, said Lagarde, but just a slowdown.

Lagarde said: "The international community must come together to build a brighter future for all."

"Across all economies, measures to boost potential output growth, enhance inclusiveness, and strengthen fiscal and financial buffers in an environment of high debt burdens and tighter financial conditions are imperatives," noted the IMF.