BERLIN: Global economic growth will be "disappointing" next year, the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said in a guest article for German newspaper Handelsblatt published on Wednesday.

"In many countries the financial sector still has weaknesses and in emerging markets the financial risks are increasing. All of that means global growth will be disappointing and uneven in 2016," IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said.

She added that low productivity, ageing populations and the effects of the global financial crisis were putting the brakes on growth, which has weakened the medium-term prospects.