UN report shows growth in world economy in 2015

A UN biannual report on World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) showed that the world economy continues to grow at a modest pace, according to UN.

Growth of world gross product is projected to accelerate slightly from 2.6 per cent in 2014 to 2.8 per cent in 2015—a downward revision by 0.3 percentage points from the forecast presented in the World Economic Situation and Prospects 2015 in January, according to the report.

In 2016, global growth is forecast to improve to 3.1 per cent. The growth divergence between various regions is widening in 2015, owing to differing impacts from the recent decline in the prices of oil and other commodities, as well as country-specific factors.

The major downside risks are related to the impact of the upcoming monetary policy normalization in the United States, ongoing uncertainties in the euro area, potential spillovers from geopolitical conflicts, and persistent vulnerabilities in emerging economies. To mitigate these risks and ensure a return to strong, sustainable and balanced growth, a broad set of policy measures at the domestic, regional and global level is needed.

The report identifies key challenges in the areas of monetary, fiscal, labor market and trade policies, underlining the need for strengthened international policy coordination. Such coordination becomes ever more critical as the Member States of the United Nations are expected to adopt a new financing framework for sustainable development and an ambitious post-2015 sustainable development agenda.