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1st LD: IMF keeps global growth forecast for 2017 unchanged at 3.4 pct

Xinhua, January 16, 2017 Adjust font size:

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Monday kept its forecast for global economic growth for 2017 and 2018 unchanged at 3.4 percent and 3.6 percent respectively, but warned of uncertainties.

"After a lackluster outturn in 2016, economic activity is projected to pick up in 2017 and 2018, especially in emerging market and developing economies," said the IMF in its update of the World Economic Outlook released on Monday.

It estimated that the global economy grew 3.1 percent in 2016, the weakest since 2008-2009, owing to a challenging first half marked initially by turmoil in world financial markets.

The projections for 2017 and 2018 remained unchanged, relative to its forecast in October 2016. According to the IMF, this forecast incorporated a firming of oil prices and the assumption of a changing policy mix under a new administration in the United States and its global spillovers.

"We see a wider dispersion of risks to this short-term forecast. With those risks still titled to the downside, uncertainty has risen," Maurice Obstfeld, chief economist at the IMF, told a press conference on Monday. Endi