World Bank sees stronger global growth in 2018

WASHINGTON - The World Bank is predicting that the global economy will grow 3.1 percent this year, which would be its best showing in seven years. The U.S., the world's largest economy, is expected to receive a boost from the $1.5 trillion tax cut package Congress approved last month.

The World Bank is upgrading its growth forecast for 2018 by 0.3 percentage point from the projection it made in June. It's also forecasting solid growth of 3 percent in 2019 and 2.9 percent in 2020, after similar 3 percent expansion in 2017.

The U.S. economy will grow 2.5 percent this year, the World Bank now predicts, up 0.3 percentage point from its June estimate. Its forecast shows U.S. growth slowing to 2.2 percent in 2019 and 2 percent in 2020.

The World Bank said its new forecasts follow a much stronger-than-expected 2017, "as the recovery in investment, manufacturing, and trade continues, and as commodity-exporting developing economies benefit from firming commodity prices."

The institution also warns that the upswing could be fragile.

"The broad-based recovery in global growth is encouraging, but this is no time for complacency," World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim said in a statement. "This is a great opportunity to invest in human and physical capital. If policymakers around the world focus on these key investments, they can increase their countries' productivity, boost workforce participation and move closer to the goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity."