IMF upgrades eurozone, Japan; leaves world outlook unchanged
By The Associated Press
July 24 (National Post) -- WASHINGTON - The International Monetary Fund is upgrading the economic outlook for Europe, Japan and China this year. But fund's forecast for global growth is unchanged from an April forecast, partly because the United States is unlikely to get much help from tax cuts and higher infrastructure spending.
The IMF left its expectation for worldwide economic growth at 3.5 per cent this year. But it now forecasts 1.9 per cent growth for the 19 countries that use the euro currency (up from 1.7 per cent in Apri). The fund expects Japan to grow 1.3 per cent (up from the previously expected 1.2 per cent) and China to expand 6.7 per cent (versus 6.6 per cent).
The U.S. economy is expected to grow 2.1 per cent, down from the 2.3 per cent expected in April when hopes were higher for tax cuts.