In a blog post titled “How to Help, Not Hinder Global Growth”, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde “most recent economic data indicate that global growth may be stabilizing”. She noted “while first-quarter economic activity disappointed in parts of emerging Asia and Latin America, growth was stronger than expected in the United States, the euro area, and Japan. ”
The most important “stumbling block” is trade tensions. Lagarde said “there is strong evidence that the United States, China, and the world economy are the losers from the current trade tensions”. Overall, US-China-tariffs could reduce global GDP by 0.5% in 2020, or USD 455B. And she warned that “these are self-inflicted wounds that must be avoided”.
