IMF Downgrades US and UK Growth

WASHINGTON DC - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has lowered its forecasts for US and UK economic growth this year, following "weaker-than-expected activity" in the first three months.

The IMF says it now expects the UK to grow by 1.7 percent this year, compared with the 2 percent it was previously forecasting.

The US will now grow 2.1 percent, as against the 2.3 percent it was predicting in April. Its prediction that the global economy will grow by 3.5 percent in 2017, and 3.6 percent in 2018, is unchanged.

In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF said the "pick-up in global growth" that it had anticipated in its previous survey in April "remains on track".

However, it added: "The unchanged global growth projections mask somewhat different contributions at the country level."

A Treasury spokesperson said the IMF forecast underlined why the government's plans to increase productivity and get "the very best deal with the EU" after Brexit were "vitally important".

"Employment is at a record high and the deficit is down by three quarters, showing that the fundamentals of our economy are strong," they added.