


The world economy is expected to grow slower this year and experience higher inflation than previously anticipated, according to new forecasts to be released by the International Monetary Fund that will show the global fallout of the U.S. trade war.
The growth projections, to be released early this week, will offer the clearest indication to date of the impact that President Donald Trump’s economic policies are having on global output. Since taking office in January, Trump has imposed a wide range of tariffs on most of America’s trading partners, while ratcheting levies even higher on imports from China, Canada and Mexico.
“Our new growth projections will include notable markdowns, but not recession,” Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF managing director, said Thursday in a speech before the spring meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. “We will also see markups to the inflation forecasts for some countries.”
Georgieva’s comments added to a growing chorus of top economic officials, including the heads of the Federal Reserve and the World Bank, who have sounded alarms this week about the potential harm Trump’s policies could cause.
The European Central Bank on Thursday lowered interest rates, saying that “the outlook for growth has deteriorated owing to rising trade tensions.” Central bankers, finance ministers and other policymakers will gather in Washington next week as they continue to grapple with how to respond.
Georgieva was careful in her criticism of the Trump administration’s policies, which have created widespread uncertainty for businesses and are disrupting international supply chains. But she made clear her concerns about the costs of protectionism.
In her remarks, Georgieva acknowledged that jobs losses associated with earlier decades of liberalized trade and globalization had created a sense of unfairness in some places, fueling the concerns about national security and self-reliance that have led to a resurgence of protectionism. She argued that such policies, however, were taking a toll on smaller economies and emerging markets, raising prices around the world and dampening productivity.
“In trade policy, the goal must be to secure a settlement among the largest players that preserves openness and delivers a more level playing field — to restart a global trend toward lower tariff rates while also reducing nontariff barriers and distortions,” Georgieva said.