WASHINGTON – A resilient China, rising commodity prices and sturdy financial markets are offering a sunnier outlook for the global economy and helping dispel the gloom that has lingered since the Great Recession ended.
That's the picture sketched by the International Monetary Fund, which predicts that the world economy will grow 3.5 percent this year, up from 3.1 percent in 2016. The IMF's latest outlook for 2017 is a slight upgrade from the 3.4 percent global growth it had forecast in January.
The IMF expects the U.S. economy to grow 2.3 percent, up from 1.6 percent in 2016; the 19-country eurozone to expand 1.7 percent, the same as last year; Japan to grow 1.2 percent, up from 1 percent; and China to expand 6.6 percent, down from 6.7 percent in 2016.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
