In its recent six-monthly World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund sees few silver linings in the storm clouds gathering over the world's richest economies. The world economy as a whole is expected to grow by 3.7% this year, well down on the fund's last estimate in January of 4.2%, and much lower than the average 5%+ of recent years. They expect America to enter a mild recession this year. The IMF's growth forecast for the USA has been cut from 1.5% to just 0.5%. Although they need to catch up with reality – recession has already hit the USA – the figures give an idea of the serious state of the world economy. The report adds that prospects for several other countries are gloomy.
