*The IMF’s latest economic forecasts are somewhat less bearish than the previous figures released four months earlier. But they still portend the worst global performance since the 1930s.

*This week’s World Economic Outlook predicts that the global economy will contract by 4.4% this year, versus its -5.2% assessment made in June. The EU is forecast to contract by 8.3% versus the previous -10.2%. For the USA it forecasts -4.3% versus -8% previously. (CONTINUED - 185 WORDS)