IMF cuts global growth forecasts as India falters, says bottom may be near.

WASHINGTON -- The International Monetary Fund on Monday trimmed back its 2020 global growth forecasts due to sharperthan-expected slowdowns in India and other emerging markets but said a USChina trade deal was another sign that trade and manufacturing activity may soon bottom out. The IMF said global growth would reach 3.3pc in 2020, compared to 2.9pc in 2019, which was the slowest pace since the financial crisis a decade ago. Estimates for both years were cut by 0.1 percentage point from forecasts made in October. Growth will improve slightly to 3.4pc in 2021, but that estimate, too, was cut by 0.2 percentage point from October, the Washington-based international crisis lender said. The reductions reflect the IMF's reassessment of economic prospects for a number of major emerging markets, notably India, where domestic demand has slowed more sharply than expected amid a contraction of credit and stress in the non-bank sector.

The IMF also said it marked down growth forecasts for Chile due to social unrest and for Mexico, due to continued weakness in investment. The Fund said that an easing of tensions between the United States and China, which had stunted GDP growth in 2019, had boosted market sentiment, amid 'tentative' signs that trade and manufacturing were bottoming...