INA - SOURCES
 
World Bank Group President David Malpass said on Monday, that the lender has revised its 2023 global growth outlook slightly upward to 2% from a January forecast of 1.7% but the slowdown from stronger 2022 growth will increase debt distress for developing countries.
 
Malpass told a media briefing that the upward revision was due to an improved outlook for China's recovery from COVID-19 lockdowns, with growth now pegged at 5.1% this year compared to 4.3% in the bank's January Global Economic Prospects report.
 
Advanced economies, including the U.S. and in Europe, are also doing a bit better than the World Bank anticipated in January, Malpass said as the World Bank's and International Monetary Fund's Spring Meetings week kicked off.
 
But the departing World Bank chief warned that turmoil in the banking sector and higher oil prices could again put downward pressure on growth prospects in the second half of 2023. A bank asset maturity mismatch will take some time to work through and banks are likely to pull back credit for businesses, slowing growth, he said.