US tariffs prompt IMF to reduce growth forecast

UNITED States tariffs leading to global trade disruption and unprecedented uncertainty is set to significantly slow growth in economies around the world, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.

- ANNA WISE Press Association

The organisation said it is slashing its global growth forecast by 0.5 percentage points this year, with nearly all countries seeing a downgrade. Its latest World Economic Outlook report was produced under “exceptional circumstances”, with the IMF being forced to change its projections after US President Donald Trump unveiled a range of new and higher tariffs earlier this month.

Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the IMF's top economist, said: “While many of the scheduled tariff increases are on hold for now, the combination of measures and counter-measures has hiked US and global tariff rates to centennial highs.

"For this reason, we expect that the sharp increase on April 2 in both tariffs and uncertainty will lead to a significant slowdown in global growth in the near term.”