FRANKFURT: The International Monetary Fund has lowered its 2008 global growth forecast to 4.8 percent from a previous estimate of 5.2 percent, German sources told AFP on Tuesday.
The headquarters of the IMFThe IMF slashed its estimate for US economic growth next year to 1.9 percent from the previous forecast of 2.8 percent, the sources added.
Previous estimates had been made before the international banking system was rocked by turmoil stemming from the collapse of the US market for high-risk home loans, also known as the sub-prime market.
Official IMF forecasts are to be published next week, and the sources said most regions would be affected by the international financial crisis.
Even global economic locomotive China would see its growth forecast trimmed by a half percentage point to 10.0 percent, the sources said.
IMF director Rodrigo Rato said last month during a visit to Peru that the global credit crunch sparked by the meltdown of the US sub-prime market would be felt next year, particularly in the United States.
For the 13-nation eurozone, the IMF anticipates economic growth next year of 2.1 percent, compared with its earlier forecast of 2.5 percent.
In Germany, the IMF now expects the economy to expand by 2.0 percent, down from 2.4 percent, and in France by 2.0 percent, down from 2.3 percent, the source said. - AFP/so
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