The world economy will come perilously close to a recession this year due to weak growth in the major economies - the United States, Europe and China - the World Bank warned Tuesday.
In its annual report, the WB, which lends to poor countries for development projects, nearly halved its forecast for global growth to 1.7% compared with its previous projection of 3%.
If the forecast is confirmed, it would be the third-smallest annual growth in three decades, after the recession caused by the global financial crisis in 2008 and the one caused by the pandemic in 2020.
While the U.S. could avoid a recession this year - the WB forecasts growth of just 0.5% - weakness in the rest of the world is likely to be a challenge for U.S. businesses and consumers, aside from high inflation and high interest rates.