World Economy Is Fragile, But Worst Is Over: World Bank

Four years after the onset of the global financial crisis, the worst appears to be over, according to a new report by the World Bank. However, the global economy remains fragile, as high-income countries continue to suffer from volatility and slow growth. The World Bank's latest Global Economic Prospects, says despite slow growth in high-income countries, prospects for the developing world remain solid (albeit between 1 and 2 percentage points slower than in the pre-crisis period). The report says that in order to regain those earlier faster growth rates, developing countries will need to focus on productivity-enhancing domestic policies, to assure robust growth in the long term. The World Bank estimates global GDP grew 2.3 percent in 2012. Growth is expected to remain broadly unchanged at 2.4 percent growth in 2013, before gradually strengthening to 3.1 percent in 2014 and 3.3 percent in 2015. According to the report, developing countries recorded among their slowest economic growth rates of the past decade in 2012, with GDP estimated to have grown 5.1 percent. Growth for developing countries is projected to expand by 5.5 percent this year, strengthening to 5.7 percent in 2014 and 5.8 percent in 2015. The report warns that growth in high-income countries remains weak, with their GDP expanding only 1.3 percent in 2012 and expected to remain slow at an identical 1.3 percent this year. But it says growth should gradually firm up to 2 percent in 2014 and 2.3 percent by 2015.