Investing.com - The International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for global economic growth on Tuesday, but warned that the pace of the recovery will remain “weak and uneven”.
In revisions to its World Economic Outlook report the IMF said it expects the global economy to grow by 3.7% in 2014, which in October it said would expand by 3.6% this year.
"Global growth is expected to increase in 2014 after having been stuck in a low gear in 2013," the fund said, but warned that "strengthening global growth does not mean that the global economy is out of the woods".
The Washington-based fund said it expects the U.S. economy to grow by 2.8% this year, up from its previous estimate of 2.6%.
The IMF said it expects the euro zone economy to emerge from contraction to expand by 1% this year, saying “the euro area is turning a corner from recession to recovery." It highlighted the risk of deflation in the euro area and reiterated that the recovery would be slower in some countries.
"While our baseline forecasts are for low but positive inflation in the euro area, the risk is that inflation turns into deflation," the report said.
Britain’s growth forecast was upgraded to 2.4% in 2014 from 1.9% in October, more than any other country, while its forecast for growth in 2015 was raised to 2.2%.
The report echoed the cautiously optimistic tone struck by IMF managing director Christine Lagarde in a speech on the global economy last week.
"This crisis still lingers. Yet optimism is in the air: the deep freeze is behind, and the horizon is brighter. My great hope is that 2014 will prove momentous … the year in which the seven weak years, economically speaking, slide into seven strong years," she said.