<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">A continued slowdown in almost all the world's advanced economies is expected to drag global growth below three percent this year, the International Monetary Fund's managing director warned on Thursday.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"With rising geopolitical tensions, with inflation still running high, a robust recovery remains elusive," Kristalina Georgieva said in a speech ahead of the IMF and World Bank's spring meetings next week.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"That harms the prospects of everyone, especially for the most vulnerable people and most vulnerable countries," she added at an event in Washington.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Global growth almost halved last year to 3.4 percent as the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine rippled through the world economy, abruptly halting the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">While Asia's emerging markets are expected to see substantial increases in economic output -- with India and China predicted to account for half of all growth this year -- the good news will be outweighed by a slowdown expected for 90 percent of the world's advanced economies.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Growth remains historically weak -- now and in the medium term," said Georgieva.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">She added that world growth will likely remain at roughly three percent for the next half-decade, the lowest medium-term forecast since the 1990s.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Low-income countries are expected to suffer a double shock from high borrowing costs and a decline in demand for their exports, which could cause poverty and hunger to increase, Georgieva said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"About 15 percent of low-income countries are already in debt distress an additional 45 percent are near it," she added, calling on wealthier IMF members to do more to provide support. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>