The world economy will this year grow at its slowest pace since the global financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday, with a deep slowdown in China and other emerging economies masking a strengthening recovery in rich countries. 2015 will mark the fifth consecutive year that average growth in emerging economies has declined, the fund predicts in its twice-yearly world economic outlook. This drag on global growth is sufficient to pull it down to 3.1 per cent this year even though advanced economies will post their best performance since 2010. With downgrades to its growth forecasts, the fund called for countries to redouble efforts to boost domestic spending and reform their economies to improve the potential for expansion. There was not one specific cause of the global economic weakness, the IMF said, although the slowdown in China and its realignment towards consumption and services compounded pain for countries which export oil and metals.