FRANKFURT, Aug 7: The International Monetary Fund has again cut its growth forecasts for the world’s main economies, the financial daily Boersen-Zeitung reported in its Wednesday edition.

Quoting internal IMF forecasts, the newspaper said the Fund expected the US economy to expand by only 2.2 per cent this year, slower than the 2.5 per cent it was previously expecting.

And next year, the United States would grow by just 2.6 per cent rather than the 3.25 per cent the IMF has been forecasting until now.

Boersen-Zeitung said the IMF had substantially scaled back projections for the world’s powerhouse economy in the wake of a dramatic slide in share prices, corporate accounting scandals and an uncertain earnings outlook for companies — all of which were undermining industrial and consumer confidence.

The Fund was also cutting its German growth forecast to just 0.7 per cent this year, instead of 0.9 per cent, and to 2.1 per cent in 2003, instead of 2.7 per cent, the newspaper continued.

Similarly, French gross domestic product (GDP) was expected to expand by just 1.3 per cent this year and by 2.4 per cent next year, slower than the previous forecasts of 1.4 per cent and 3.0 per cent.

And the IMF expected Italian growth to reach only 1.0 per cent this year and 2.3 per cent next year, Boersen-Zeitung added. —AFP