Her counterpart, David Malpass, a former U.S. Treasury official who became the World Bank’s president in April, offered his own assessment in a speech at McGill University, saying that in June the World Bank had forecast 2.6% global growth in 2019—the slowest in three years—and “we now expect growth to be even weaker than that, hurt by Brexit, Europe’s recession and trade uncertainty.”

Their remarks set the tone for the IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington, where most of the world’s finance ministers and central bankers will be gathering. The new duo, both economists by training, represent a contrast from their predecessors. Christine Lagarde, the former IMF leader, was a lawyer and former French finance minister, while Jim Yong Kim, formerly at the World Bank, was a doctor and former university president.

The global economy they face presents a sharp reversal from two years ago when 75% of the world was accelerating, said Ms. Georgieva, noting that in 2019 the IMF now expects slower growth in 90% of the world and that “the widespread deceleration means that growth this year will fall to its lowest rate since the beginning of the decade.”

Many economists agree that trade tensions loom heavily over the global economy. Ms. Georgieva said that according to IMF research, the cumulative economic loss from the trade war could amount to $700 billion by 2020, or about 0.8% of global gross domestic product. [...]

Full article on The Wall Street Journal

Full Kristalina Georgieva speech

Related article on BBC: IMF boss Kristalina Georgieva warns of 'painful' Brexit