The forecast for US economic growth for this year has been given the biggest downgrade among advanced economies by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) due to uncertainty caused by trade tariffs.
Growth is now expected to be 1.8% this year, down from the IMF’s estimate of 2.7% for the US in January.
The sharp increase in tariffs and uncertainty will lead to a “significant slowdown” in global growth, the Fund predicts.
The forecast for the UK has also been cut, with the economy now expected to grow by 1.1% this year.
But the IMF has predicted UK economic growth will be stronger than Germany, France, and Italy.
Inflation in the UK, however, will be the highest in the world’s advanced economies, at 3.1% this year, largely due to higher bills, including for energy and water.
The predictions come as top economic policymakers gather in Washington for the spring meetings of the IMF and World Bank.
IMF chief economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas said the global economy “still bears significant scars” from the “severe shocks of the past four years”.
“It is now being severely tested once again,” he added.
