World Bank Sees Global Growth Slowing To 2.9% In 2019

The growth of the global economy is expected to slow to 2.9 per cent in 2019 compared with 3 per cent in 2018, the World Bank said on Tuesday, citing elevated trade tensions and international trade moderation.

"At the beginning of 2018 the global economy was firing on all cylinders, but it lost speed during the year and the ride could get even bumpier in the year ahead," World Bank chief executive officer Kristalina Georgieva said in the semi-annual Global Economic Prospects report.

The World Bank outlook comes as the United States and China have been engaged in a bitter trade dispute, which has jolted financial markets across the world for months. The two economies have imposed tit-for-tat duties on each other's goods, although there were signs of progress on Tuesday as the two countries prepared to enter a third day of talks in Beijing.

Growth in the United States is likely to slow to 2.5 per cent this year from 2.9 per cent in 2018, while China is expected to grow at 6.2 per cent in the year compared with 6.5 per cent in 2018, according to the World Bank.

Emerging market economies are expected to grow at 4.2 per cent this year, with advanced economies expected to grow at 2 per cent, the World Bank said in the report.