UN economic forecast cites conflicts, sluggish trade, high interest and climate disasters

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations has issued a somber global economic forecast for 2024, pointing to challenges from escalating conflicts, sluggish global trade, persistently high interest rates and increasing climate disasters. In its flagship economic report launched Thursday, the U.N. projected that global economic growth would slow to 2.4% this year from an estimated 2.7% in 2023, which exceeds expectations. But both are still below the 3.0% growth rate before the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, it said. The U.N. forecast is lower than those of the International Monetary Fund in October and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in late November.