WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicted on Monday that the global economy will continue to register a healthy growth in 2018 and 2019 but progress in the region that includes Pakistan will remain subdued.

The IMF World Economic Review, released on Monday, revised its forecast for the global growth to 3.9 per cent in both 2018 and 2019. This is 0.2 percentage points higher than last October’s forecast, and its current estimate of last year’s global growth.

But in the region that includes the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan, growth remains subdued at around 3.5pc. The region will pick up from a 2.5pc growth in 2017 to 3.6pc in 2018 but will slow down by 0.1 percentage point in 2019 to 3.5pc.

The outlook depicts brighter prospects for emerging and developing economies in Asia, which will grow at around 6.5pc over 2018-19, broadly the same pace as in 2017. The region continues to account for over half of the world growth. Growth is expected to moderate gradually in China, though with a slight upward revision to the forecast for 2018 and 2019 relative to the fall forecasts, reflecting stronger external demand.

India is expected to pick up, from 6.7pc in 2017 to 7.4pc in 2018 and 7.8pc in 2019 and will remain broadly stable in the Asean region.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2018