'He's in our hearts': Family and friends still seek answers one year after Nathan Wise’s disappearance
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
The International Monetary Fund on Friday slashed its U.S. economic growth forecast as aggressive Federal Reserve interest rate hikes cool demand but predicted that the United States would "narrowly" avoid a recession.
In an annual assessment of U.S. economic policies, the IMF said it now expects U.S. Gross Domestic Product to grow 2.9% in 2022, less than its most recent forecast of 3.7% in April.
For 2023, the IMF cut its U.S. growth forecast to 1.7% from 2.3% and it now expects growth to trough at 0.8% in 2024.
Last October, the IMF predicted 5.2% U.S. growth this year, but since then, new COVID-19 variants and stubborn supply chain disruptions have slowed recovery, while a sharp spike in fuel and food prices prompted by Russia's war in Ukraine further stoked inflation to 40-year highs.
"We are conscious that there is a narrowing path to avoiding a recession in the U.S.," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva told a news conference, noting that the outlook had a high degree of uncertainty.
"The economy continues to recover from the pandemic and important shocks are buffeting the economy from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and from lockdowns in China," she said. "Further negative shocks would inevitably make the situation more difficult."
If large enough, a shock could push the United States into a recession, but it would likely be short and shallow with a modest rise in unemployment, akin to the U.S. recession in 2001, said IMF Deputy Western Hemisphere Director Nigel Chalk. Strong U.S. savings would help support demand, he added.
Georgieva said price stability was important to protect U.S. incomes and sustain growth, but there may be "some pain" for consumers in achieving it.
She said her discussions with U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Fed Chair Jerome Powell "left no doubt as to their commitment to bring inflation back down."
U.S. inflation by the Fed's preferred measure is running at more than three times the U.S. central bank's 2% target.
Georgieva said the responsibility to restore low and stable inflation rests with the Fed, and that the fund views the U.S. central bank's desire to quickly bring its benchmark overnight interest rate up to the 3.5%-4% level as "the correct policy to bring down inflation." The Fed's current policy rate ranges from 1.50% to 1.75%.
"We believe this policy path should create an upfront tightening of financial conditions which will quickly bring inflation back to target. We also support the Fed's decision to reduce its balance sheet," she said.
While Congress' failure to pass Biden's climate and spending proposals was a "missed opportunity," Georgieva signaled that the IMF would support a scaled down version.
"We think the administration should continue making the case for changes to tax, spending, and immigration policy that would help create jobs, increase supply and support the poor," she said.
Georgieva also said the IMF sees clear benefits to rolling back the U.S. import tariffs imposed over the last five years, which include punitive duties on Chinese imports and global tariffs on steel, aluminum, washing machines and solar panels.
U.S. Treasury spokesperson Michael Kikukawa said the IMF statement shows the U.S. economy was confronting global challenges "from a position of strength" due to the Biden administration's economic policies.
The Treasury also said Yellen, in her meeting with Georgieva, reiterated the importance of the IMF conducting "frank and thorough assessments" of IMF member economies.
(Reporting by David Lawder and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Paul Simao and Richard Chang)
It’s been a year since Nathan Wise went missing and his family is no closer to finding out what happened to him.
Dozens of Ontarians are expressing frustration in the province’s health-care system after their family doctors either dropped them as patients or threatened to after they sought urgent care elsewhere.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
Amazon's paid subscription service provides free delivery for online shopping across Canada except for remote locations, the company said in an email. While customers in Iqaluit qualify for the offer, all other communities in Nunavut are excluded.
The fire burning near Fort McMurray grew from 25 hectares to 5,500 hectares over the weekend.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin began a Cabinet shakeup on Sunday, proposing the replacement of Sergei Shoigu as defence minister as he begins his fifth term in office.
Police are searching for a male suspect after a man was “slashed in neck” on Sunday morning in downtown Toronto and died.
There were some scary moments for several people on a northern Ontario highway caught on video Thursday after a chain reaction following a truck fire.
Health Canada announced various product recalls this week, including electric adapters, armchairs, cannabis edibles and vehicle components.
English, history, entertainment, math and geography: high school trivia teams could be quizzed on any of it when they compete at the Reach for the Top Nationals in Ottawa in June.
An Ottawa pizzeria is being recognized as one of the top 20 deep-dish pizzas in the world.
A family of fifth generation farmers from Ituna, Sask. are trying to find answers after discovering several strange objects lying on their land.
A Listowel, Ont. man, drafted by the Hamilton Tigercats last week, is also getting looks from the NFL, despite only playing 27 games of football in his life.
The threat of zebra mussels has prompted the federal government to temporarily ban watercraft from a Manitoba lake popular with tourists.
A small Ajax dessert shop that recently received a glowing review from celebrity food critic Keith Lee is being forced to move after a zoning complaint was made following the social media influencer’s visit last month.
The Canada Science and Technology Museum is inviting visitors to explore their poop. A new exhibition opens at the Ottawa museum on Friday called, 'Oh Crap! Rethinking human waste.'
The Regina Police Service says it is the first in Saskatchewan and possibly Canada to implement new technology in its detention facility that will offer real-time monitoring of detainees’ vital health metrics.
Just as she had feared, a restaurant owner from eastern Quebec who visited Montreal had her SUV stolen, but says it was all thanks to the kindness of strangers on the internet — not the police — that she got it back.