IMF slashes the global growth outlook for 2022 to 3.6% from 4%

The International Monetary Fund(IMF), in its latest World Economic Outlook report released on Tuesday, slashed its global growth outlook for the calendar year 2022 to 3.6 per cent from 4.4 per cent saying that global economic prospects have worsened significantly due to commodity price volatility and disruption of supply chains caused by the war in Europe.

The war is expected to slow growth and further increase inflation, the IMF said in its report while warning that its forecast was marked by unusually high uncertainty. The report added that further sanctions on Russian energy and a widening of the war, a sharper-than-forecast deceleration in China and a renewed flare-up of the pandemic could further slow growth and boost inflation while rising prices could trigger social unrest.

IMF also slashed its forecast for India's FY23 GDP growth to 8.2 per cent from earlier 9 per cent. The IMF cited the negative impact of higher oil prices led by the Ukraine-Russia conflict on domestic consumption and private investment. It recommended monetary tightening by central banks to keep inflationary expectations in check amid global supply-side disruption.

Earlier, the World Bank has cut India's GDP forecast for FY22-23 to 8 per cent. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has also sharply cut India's growth projection at 7.2 per cent for FY22-23, while the second advance estimate of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation had said that GDP growth would be 8.9 per cent.