The global economy will come “perilously close” to a recession this year, led by weaker growth in all the world’s top economies – the United States, Europe and China – the World Bank warned on Tuesday.
In an annual report, the World Bank, which lends money to poorer countries for development projects, said it had slashed its forecast for global growth this year by nearly half, to just 1.7 percent, from its previous projection of 3 percent. If that forecast proved accurate, it would be the third-weakest annual expansion in 30 years, behind only the deep recessions that resulted from the 2008 global financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.
Though the United States might avoid a recession this year – the World Bank has predicted the US economy will eke out growth of 0.5 percent – global weakness will likely pose another headwind for US businesses and consumers, on top of high prices and more expensive borrowing rates. The US would also remain vulnerable to further supply chain disruptions if COVID-19 keeps surging or Russia’s war in Ukraine worsens.
