EKONOMI GLOBAL - JAKARTA. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised up its global economic growth forecast to 3.6% in 2017 and 3.7% in 2018, as it projects a slight recovery in worldwide economic activity.
The IMF's growth forecasts for both 2017 and 2018 are 0.1 percentage point stronger compared with its forecast back in April, the fund stated in its October edition of the World Economic Outlook (WEO). The latest WEO was published on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
In its forecast, the fund saw that some regions, including emerging Asia, had better-than-expected growth outcomes during the first half of this year, which more than offset the downward revisions for the United States and the United Kingdom.
“But the recovery is not complete: while the baseline outlook is strengthening, growth remains weak in many countries, and inflation is below target in most advanced economies,” the report said.
The IMF called for policymakers to seize "the window of opportunity in cyclical pickup of global economy"
The IMF suggested that policymakers tackle their key policy challenges to boost potential economic output while ensuring its benefits were broadly shared, and to build resilience against downside risks.
“Policymakers should seize the moment: the recovery is still incomplete in important respects, and the window for action the current cyclical upswing offers will not be open forever,” said IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld at a press conference during the ongoing 2017 IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, D.C.
