20.01.2012
By Simon Miller
The International Monetary Fund is to downgrade global GDP growth from 4% to 3.3% thanks to ongoing tensions in the eurozone according to a leaked draft of its World Economic Outlook.
The draft, which was obtained by Italian news agency ANSA, said the global recovery was “threatened by the growing tensions in the euro area”.
The eurozone will see growth shrink by 0.5%, revised down from a 1.1% growth in September’s forecast while Italy’s economy will contract by 2.2% and Spain’s by 1.7%.
Britain will see 0.6% of growth before rebounding to 2% in 2012 while the US remains unchanged a 1.8% while China will grow by 8.2%, down from 9%.
"The most immediate political challenge is to re-establish confidence and put an end to the euro area crisis, supporting growth," said the draft.
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