Releasing its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO), the International Monetary Fund said the global growth forecast for 2017 and 2018 -- 3.6 per cent and 3.7 per cent, respectively -- is 0.1 percentage point higher in both years than in the April and July forecasts. Notable pickups in investment, trade, and industrial production, coupled with strengthening business and consumer confidence, are supporting the recovery. Of the view that global recovery is still incomplete, Obstfeld argued that the action to make necessary changes should take place now as these are the good times. In contrast, compared with the April 2017 WEO forecast, growth has been marked down for 2017 in the UK and for both 2017 and 2018 in the US, implying a 0.1 percentage-point aggregate growth downgrade for advanced economies in 2018. The country's 2017 forecast (6.8 per cent, against 6.6 per cent in April) reflects stronger growth out-turns in the first half of 2017 as well as more buoyant external demand.

Source: India Today October 10, 2017 13:07 UTC