US Remains the Engine of Global Growth in Latest IMF Forecasts

• The U.S. economy will continue to provide most of the thrust for global growth through the balance of this year and in 2025, led by robust consumer spending that has held up through a wrenching bout of inflation and the high interest rates used to tame it, the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.
• In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF raised its 2024 and 2025 economic growth forecasts for the U.S. - the only developed economy to see its outlook marked up for both years - and its chief economist said the "soft landing" sought by the Federal Reserve in which inflation eases without big damage to the job market had largely been achieved.
• Still, it warned that risks abound from armed conflicts, potential new trade wars and the hangover from the tight monetary policy employed by the Fed and other central banks to rein in inflation.
• The IMF revised its 2024 U.S. growth forecast upward by two-tenths of a percentage point to 2.8% due largely to stronger-than-expected consumption fueled by rising wages and asset prices. The global lender also upgraded its 2025 U.S. growth outlook by three-tenths of a percentage point to 2.2%, slightly delaying a return to trend growth.

(Source: Reuters)