IMF slashes global forecast on back of sluggish China, India, Brazil economies

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed down its forecast for global economic growth to 2.9 percent this year amid slow pace of expansion in Brazil, Russia, China and India (BRIC) economies, but has lifted its UK growth projection at the same time.

The IMF said weakness in emerging economies was the reason behind the 0.3 percent cut from July's estimate.

UK growth forecast received a significant upgrade to 1.4 percent, up by 0.9 percent from July's estimate, the BBC reports.

According to the report, the IMF expects global growth of 3.6 percent in 2014, down by 0.2 percent.

The IMF has credited higher consumer and business confidence, indicated by recent data, for its upgrades on the UK forecast this year.

However, it suggested the UK government could help boost growth by bringing forward planned public infrastructure spending to recover fully from the 2008 financial crisis.

The IMF expects the United States to drive global growth, but it warns that the political standoff over raising the government's borrowing limit could seriously damage the global economy.