COLUMN-Global economic slowdown is likely and necessary later in 2018 or 2019: Kemp | Reuters

COLUMN-Global economic slowdown is likely and necessary later in 2018 or 2019: Kemp | Reuters:

No one likes to predict recession, but the global economy is likely to experience a significant slowdown before the end of 2019, and the slowdown may be necessary to relieve upward pressure on oil prices.

In its latest World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund forecasts the global economy will expand at 3.9 percent in both 2018 and 2019, slightly faster than the 3.7 percent achieved in 2017.

But beneath the sanguine headline numbers, the outlook provides a long list of downside risk factors, including mounting trade tensions, rising interest rates, political uncertainty and complacent financial markets.