The global economy faces an unprecedented level of market complexity and fluidity, the IMF says in its World Economic Outlook (WEO) update this week, warning that “extremely high levels of policy uncertainty are expected to have a significant impact on global economic activity.” As a result, the IMF downgraded its global economic growth expectations for 2025 by 0.5 percentage points to 2.8% and by 0.3 percentage points to 3.0% for 2026.
Speaking at the WEO release on 22 April, IMF Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said “we’re entering a new era as the global economic system that has operated for the last 80 years is being reset.” Mr Gourinchas warned of the risk of further economic weakening should “markets react negatively to diminished growth prospects and increased uncertainty, [while] on the flip side, growth prospects could immediately improve if countries ease from their current trade policy stance.” (CONTINUED - 1094 WORDS)
