INTERNATIONAL. The International Monetary Fund (IMF)lowered its Middle East growth forecast for this year by half a percentage point as oil exporters draw on financial reserves to boost domestic demand.
Middle East economies will expand by 2%, compared with 5.2% in 2008, the Washington-based lender with 186 members said in an update to its April Economic Outlook posted on its Web site today.
The growth forecast for 2010 was raised 0.2 percentage point to 3.7%, the lender said.
IMF economists say global economic output will still shrink this year by 1.4% because of the slowdown in global trade. But their forecast now calls for the world economy to grow by 2.5% in 2010, more than the 1.9% it predicted in April.
The IMF report warns an economic recovery still depends on government intervention. It says governments need to continue pushing stimulus measures, including increased spending or greater tax cuts, through 2010.
The revised IMF forecast says the US economy, the world's largest, will shrink 2.6% this year and grow eight-tenths of a percent in 2010. Both predictions are slightly better than what the IMF foresaw in its April report.
The new forecast calls for China and India, two prominent emerging economies, to grow faster than it initially estimated. China's economy is now forecast to grow 7.5% this year while India is expected to grow at a 5.4% pace.
Middle East economies will expand by 2%, compared with 5.2% in 2008, the Washington-based lender with 186 members said in an update to its April Economic Outlook posted on its Web site today.
The growth forecast for 2010 was raised 0.2 percentage point to 3.7%, the lender said.
IMF economists say global economic output will still shrink this year by 1.4% because of the slowdown in global trade. But their forecast now calls for the world economy to grow by 2.5% in 2010, more than the 1.9% it predicted in April.
The IMF report warns an economic recovery still depends on government intervention. It says governments need to continue pushing stimulus measures, including increased spending or greater tax cuts, through 2010.
The revised IMF forecast says the US economy, the world's largest, will shrink 2.6% this year and grow eight-tenths of a percent in 2010. Both predictions are slightly better than what the IMF foresaw in its April report.
The new forecast calls for China and India, two prominent emerging economies, to grow faster than it initially estimated. China's economy is now forecast to grow 7.5% this year while India is expected to grow at a 5.4% pace.