(MENAFN- Qatar News Agency) W york may 22 (qna) - the global economy is expected to strengthen over the next two years despite a downgrade of growth prospects for some developing countries and transition economies and "stubbornly slow" job growth according to the united nations world economic situation and prospects 2014 mid-year update launched wednesday in new york.
"more than five years after the financial crisis the world continues to struggle with getting the global economic engine back to running at full capacity" said pingfan hong chief of the global economic monitoring unit for the un department of economic and social affairs (undesa).
"compared to pre-crisis trends we have not sufficiently boosted output trade and employment to their potential levels" he added.
global growth has been revised slightly lower from the forecasts presented in the 2014 report. growth of world gross product (wgp) is now projected at 2.8% in 2014 and 3.2% in 2015 up from 2.2% in 2013. however this pace of expansion is still low compared to the growth path before the 2008 global financial crisis.
the report warns that risks and uncertainties for the world economy include: international spill-overs from ongoing adjustment in monetary policies by developed economies; vulnerabilities of emerging economies; remaining fragilities in the euro area; long-term unsustainable public finance for many developed countries; and geopolitical tensions.
while the report notes that economies of developed countries are likely to grow at 2% this year and 2.4% in 2015 – faster than in the two previous years but still relatively weak – growth in north america japan and western europe will be impacted by trade imbalances high unemployment and ageing populations.
the report goes on to note that the commonwealth of independent states (cis) region will also face a "challenging international environment" and in addition many countries are confronted with domestic challenges and risks. several large cis economies stagnated in early 2014.
for example growth in russia which has a strong influence over the region was already disappointing in 2013 and the crisis around crimea and the possibility of economic sanctions targeting broader sectors of the russian economy have led to a massive outflow of capital and further weakening of business and consumer confidence says the report.
globally according to the un international labour organization (ilo) employment grew by 1.4% in 2013 a similar pace as in 2012 but stubbornly slower than the rate of 1.7% in pre-crisis years. the global jobs gap – comparing the number of jobs today with the number that would exist using pre-crisis trends – widened farther to 62 million in 2013.
as for developing economics the report states that africa will continue to see solid growth of 4.2% this year although political problems in a number of countries have led to a downward revision compared to the previous forecast. in libya for example disruptions to oil output and exports will be a major drag on growth underpinning a significantly lower growth rate for north africa than previously forecast. (qna)
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