“At 3% growth, there is no room for policy mistakes and an urgent need for policy makers to cooperatively de-escalate trade and geopolitical tensions,” Gita Gopinath, the IMF’s chief economist, said. As the year has progressed, trade has slowed more sharply than forecasters had expected earlier in the year. The IMF’s projections for 2019 are based off data collected through Sept. 30—three-quarters of the way through the year—reflecting reports from around the world showing a sharp decline in manufacturing activity , investment and trade. The IMF now forecasts that world trade volumes will expand by just 1.1% this year, less than half the growth rate of a July estimate of 2.5%. In 2017, trade was a bulwark for the global economy, expanding by 5.7%, before slowing to 3.6% in 2018. Mounting signs […]

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