Global Economic Outlook Getting Gloomier, Says IMF It also said that the challenges that the global economy is facing are immense and weakening economic indicators point to further challenges ahead

The International Monetary Fund, on Sunday, said that the global economic outlook is even gloomier than projected last month, citing a steady worsening in purchasing manager surveys in recent months.

As per reports, it blamed the darker outlook on tightening monetary policy triggered by persistently high and broad-based inflation, weak growth momentum in China, and ongoing supply disruptions and food insecurity caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

In a blog prepared for a summit of G20 leaders in Indonesia, the IMF said that recent high-frequency indicators confirm that the outlook is gloomier, particularly in Europe. It also added that the recent purchasing manager indices that the estimates of manufacturing and services activity signalled a weakness in most groups of 20 major economies, with economic activity set to contract while inflation remained stubbornly high.

"The challenges that the global economy is facing are immense and weakening economic indicators point to further challenges ahead. The current policy environment was unusually uncertain. A worsening energy crisis in Europe would severely harm growth and raise inflation, while prolonged high inflation could prompt larger-than-anticipated policy interest hikes and further tightening of global financial conditions. That in turn posed increasing risks of a sovereign debt crisis for vulnerable economies," said the IMF, in a statement.

"Increasingly severe weather events would also harm growth across the globe," it added.