World Bank warns global growth will likely slow

Bank forecasts global economy will expand 2.5%, developing countries will grow 5.4% this year
A recession in Europe and weaker growth in India, Brazil and other developing countries will likely slow global economic growth, the World Bank said Tuesday.
In its annual report, the bank substantially cut its forecasts for growth in both developed and poorer nations. It now projects that the global economy will expand 2.5 percent this year and 3.1 percent in 2013. That’s down from a June forecast of 3.6 percent growth for both years.
The U.S. economy will also suffer from slower global growth, the report said, though not by as much as developing countries.
“The world is very different than it was six months ago,” said Andrew Burns, head of the bank’s global economics team and lead author of the report. “This is going to be a very difficult year.”
The bank now forecasts that developing countries will grow 5.4 percent this year, below its June estimate of 6.2 percent. Developed nations will expand only 1.4 percent, down from its earlier 2.7 percent projection.
The 17 nations that use the euro, meanwhile, will shrink 0.3 percent in 2012, the bank said. That’s down from an expansion of 1.9 percent that it forecast in June.
The U.S. economy will grow 2.2 percent this year and 2.4 percent in 2013, the report said. In June, the World Bank said the U.S. would grow 2.9 percent in 2012 and 2.7 percent in 2013.