A Donald Trump presidency and better growth in China are set to boost the global economy this year and next, although any move by the incoming US president to deliver on his protectionist campaign rhetoric would put that brighter outlook at risk, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.
In the latest update of its forecasts, the IMF said it continued to expect the global economy to grow by 3.4 per cent this year after expanding in 2016 at its slowest rate (3.1 per cent) since the immediate aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. It also left its forecast for next year untouched, predicting the global economy would expand by 3.6 per cent.
The improving global outlook was driven by a number of factors, the IMF said. But high on the list was the fiscal stimulus Mr Trump and a Republican Congress are expected to bring to the US in the form of tax cuts and new infrastructure spending.